Cristina ended the day in one of the places she loved the most-the OR. After the appointment, she had gone to change and Owen had paged her to scrub in with him. As they worked quickly to get the patient stabilised she felt owen's eyes on her. Looking at her like his wife, not his student. She felt herself glow from the inside out, so grateful that she had this man's love and support, in work and in life.

Owen Felt his wife's eyes on him as he stitched up the liver of the patient. Ordinarily he liked his residents to focus on the surgery but today he felt lucky- to be loved by this amazing woman, to soon become a father and raise a family together. As he put in the last stitch he found himself grinning behind his mask.

As they stood side by side scrubbing out she wondered if he wanted her to go with him to the other place she loved-their firehouse. She didn't want to assume or mention it It had been a tough day and she was just happy to be near him again.

Owen hit the taps off and watched the soapy water drain down the plug hole. It was as if he was watching all the pain of the past week ebb away, leaving the clean stainless steel sink fresh and unblemished.

He turned to his wife, marvelling in how beautiful she looked as she pulled of her scrub cap, letting her thick curls tumble over her shoulders.

"Give me half and hour and meet me outside the hospital." Owen stepped around her, dropped a kiss on her head and walked put of the scrub room.

Cristina was puzzled but took one last look at the OR and went to change in the residents locker room.

Standing outside the hospital she shivered against the biting wind and pulled her coat tightly around her. As her hand brushed against her stomach she felt the corners of her mouth curl into a small smile. Must be the hormones! She though, hugging herself tightly.

His truck pulling up to a standstill in front of her snapped her back into the cold evening. Owen wound down his window and said, "come on, get in"

She saw her bags on the back seat as she climbed in next to him and buckled her seat belt.

"you went to meredith's to get my things?" this was a genuine question, she nervously twisted her fingers together not daring to hope it meant what she thought it did.

Owen turned to her, tilted his head and half laughed "so?"

She laughed softly. That one word held so many memories, so much meaning for them both, she felt instantly closer to him again.

Still staring at her, Owen reached his hands up to cup her face and pulled her towards him. He softly stroked his lips against her's, testing whether she felt ok with this. When he felt her press her mouth harder against his he opened her mouth with his tongue and greedily kissed her, just as he had many times before. She ran her hands through his hair and over his face, wanting to become a part of him again. She wanted to bury herself in him but she knew there was something she had to do first.

Cristina broke away, breathing heavily. she placed her hands square on his muscular shoulders to push him back and fixed her eyes on his. Owen looked confused and she thought slightly worried.

"I love you." she reassured him, as he twisted a dark curl around his fingers. "I want you, but before that I need to explain all this. I need you to understand."

Looking relieved, Owen slid his hands away from her hair and placed them over her's on his shoulders. "ok, let's go home." with that he started the car and drove the short distance to their firehouse.

7 days earlier this had been the scene of their marriage going up in flames. Now back in the familiar surroundings of her home, she felt ready to let her husband in.

They sat down on their bed side by side, just their little fingers touching, and she immediately started talking, the words tumbling out like a torrent.

"Ok here it all is. Just listen. I am afraid...no I am terrified...that I will be a failure as a mother...it was easier to not do it at all than to try and fail."

She took a pause and glanced sideways at him. He was looking at the floor. She knew this hurt him to hear but she had to carry on.

"My mother was more interested in paint swatches than having a child. When my dad died she closed off even more and left me alone. I was 9! I had lost my dad, I needed a parent to tell me it wasn't my fault, that I could not have kept his heart beating, to tell me she loved me and we would be ok.

Tears started to fall down her cheeks. Owen looked at her and his heart broke for the pain she had been in for this long. He took her hand in his and she seemed to draw some strength from this as she took a deep breath and carried on.

"But she didn't. She barely even noticed me. So I retreated into my school work and college, medical school and tried to be the best. To not fail at anything else. But we fail all the time at work and people die. People die of the stupidest things- Lexie's mum died of the hiccups!" she stopped short, she didn't even realise that her voice had been getting louder as she had talked.

Owen held his arms open and Cristina fell into them, exhausted. For a few moments he rocked her and rubbed her back. He knew thinking about her dad was hard for her.

Being held in his arms, was like being plugged in to her power supply. She was recharged and had found the words to carry on.

Resting her head on his chest, her ear close to his heart, she carried on quietly. "you told me to be excellent. But what if I can't be an excellent mother and an excellent surgeon. Ellis grey couldn't and look at what Meredith went through and thatcher."

Owen sighed. He got it, he totally understood. Kissing her cheek, he whispered into her ear, "Cristina. I am not going anywhere without you. Our child will have 2 parents to love them and the rest we will figure out as we go."

"how do you always know just what to say?" Cristina smiled up at him, still curled up in his arms.

"because I know you, Cristina yang. I know who you are. We will both make mistakes as parents, but mistakes are how we learn."

Owen kissed his wife and lifted her off the bed and carried her to it's head. With his foot he kicked back the covers and deposited his wife on her side. He climbed over her and crawled under the covers himself. They found their familiar position.- Cristina propped up against the pillows and owen's head on her chest and his arms wrapped around her waist. Cristina stroked his hair as Owen stroked her still flat stomach.

Cristina closed her eyes, She knew there was more he needed to know but just for now she was happy to be back home.

Owen's eyes slowly moved shut and his last thought before he fell asleep for the first time in a week, was how content he was right now. He just could not sleep without her.