A/N: Short chapter, but the final two are going to be longer. Anyhow read, review and hopefully enjoy ;)


For Owen and Cristina it had been a typical day at the hospital; busy. It ran long and was relatively exhausting, but that was nothing new. What was new was the news Owen received from the Chief today. He had just finished having lunch with Cristina and the twins when the Chief paged him to his office. He initially thought it was about a high profile surgery that was going to make the press swoon over Seattle Grace, but he was wrong. For the second time in Dr. Webber's career, he spoke with the board and announced his retirement. This time there was no hesitation, nothing to reconsider, he was finally going through with it, and he was asking Owen to take his chair. Immediately Owen was shocked, not because of his ability as a surgeon or capabilities to take over as Chief but because Dr. Webber kept it under wraps as long as he did without it leaking its way into the hospital gossip mill. Owen was silent for a few minutes, contemplating in his head and finally gave the Chief his answer.

When the day was finally coming to a close Owen was more than delighted. He quickly made his way to his office, changed into his civvies, and caught an empty elevator to ride to the second floor to meet Cristina at their usual spot; the second floor nurses' station. As he approached an already waiting Cristina and twin boys he was going over in his mind how to tell her about what transpired in the Chief's office today. He hoped she would not be upset for not consulting with her first. He immediately captured her lips, kissing her tenderly, and then turned his attention to his sons. This was his favorite part of the day, his favorite thing to wind down to; his family.

The ride home was a quite one. Cristina was comfortable situated in the passenger seat, her head resting gently against the headrest. She was slowly falling asleep to the voices of Ethan and Evan, who were reading books they received for their fourth birthday. As he witnessed this he decided he would wait to bring up the news at home.

When they arrived home Owen changed into comfortably clothes and made his way to the kitchen. He was going to make pasta with chicken in carbonara sauce, and the twins decided to read on the stools in the kitchen to keep him company. Cristina went off to take a much needed relaxing shower before dinner.

Fifteen minutes later Cristina joined the male hunts in the kitchen.

She inhaled the scents that were brewing from the kitchen. "Mmm, smells delicious."

"Hey mommy." Ethan and Evan greeted without looking up from their books.

"Hey boys. How's the books."

They answered in unison once more, "Awesome."

Cristina just smiled as she took a seat beside them and watched Owen. She noticed he was missing an ingredient for the sauce so she went to the fridge to retrieve it for him.

"Here ya go," she said, handing him the cream.

Ethan finally pried his eyes from the words of his book. "Hold off on the cream."

"Yeah, we like the traditional way. Just with the egg yolks. Sorry mom." Evan added as he at last placed down his book.

Owen grinned. "Sorry mom, it's three against one."

Cristina laughed. "Fine."

As Owen was plating everyone's meal he decided now was a good as time as ever.

"The Chief called me in today to talk. After lunch," he blurted out.

"Oh yeah? What did he want?" Cristina asked as she received her plate of pasta.

"Well," Owen began. "He told me he was retiring."

Those words really got Cristina's attention and she a good feeling what Owen was going to say next.

"Yeah, and?" Cristina asked more eagerly.

"He said he was retiring and he would be happy if I took his chair b-"

"Oh my God. This is great news. Why did you wait so long to tell me?" Cristina was elated. Her eyes grew wide and full of excitement. She was so proud of her husband. He was going to be Chief.

"Well Cris-"

"This is actually perfect timing. Ethan and Evan are going to be starting pre-school soon, and kindergarten to follow."

Hearing the words pre-school did not sit well with Ethan and Evan. If they had it their way, of course they would choose to be with their parents at work.

"Cristina there's more-"

Once again he was cut off by an ecstatic Cristina. "We need to celebrate. This is amazing news. You're going to be Chief!"

Becoming a little annoyed he finally spoke more firmly. "Cristina, I am not going to be Chief."

Cristina's bubble of excitement was popped by those words. She furrowed her brows in confusion. "What? Why not? You just said the Chief was ret-"

"Yes, he is retiring and he asked me to take his chair but I declined."

Cristina gave Owen a look of disbelief. Is he kidding, she thought. "Why on earth would you do that?"

Owen sighed. "Cristina, you of all people should know that I never intended or planned on becoming Chief of Surgery. I'm sure other surgeons want to but I don't. Too much paperwork, and worse too much time away from the family."

"Well I'm glad you didn't take the job dad." Ethan jumped in before Cristina could respond.

"Yeah, me too dad. We're glad you didn't. The Chief is really crabby. We don't want you to turn crabby too." Evan added.

Their honest opinions brought a chuckle to Owen and a smile that Cristina fought hard to hold back.

"Thanks boy." He said winking at them.

Cristina finally got over her initial shock and spoke again. "Well, if that's what you want. It's fine and I support you with your decision."

Owen bit his bottom lip nervously. Now he praying this newly understanding Cristina that emerged would stick around as he dropped yet another bomb.

"There's something else. Something else I spoke to the Chief about."

Not only Cristina's but Ethan and Evan also stopped chewing and gave Owen their full attention. It made him a little nervous to have all eyes and ears on him and his voice. He cleared his throat and tugged at the color of his shirt.

"Well," he began.