A/N I am so sorry for the long wait everyone. I hope my readers are still with me. This chapter will be practically all Mallie.

House Of A Thousand Dreams

It had been two days since Mark and Addison and Derek had done surgery on Chloe Young. Everything had gone fabulously well and she was expected to go home the following week. Her parents were very appreciative of all that Mark, Addison and Derek had done for their daughter. The only reason that they were not there sitting by her crib in the NICU was because they were both home with the flu. Addison had assured them that someone would sit with the baby all day so she wasn't alone. Addison and Derek were not morning people so Mark had volunteered to take the morning shift and sit by her bedside. Two years ago you never would have found Mark Sloan in the NICU. He was different now and he credited Callie and his unborn twins with that change in him.

Chloe was strong enough to be held and so Mark took her out of her crib and sat back down on the chair that he had pulled up next to her crib. He held Chloe close to his chest, knowing that she really needed his body heat. Chloe wiggled her one month old body into his chest, clearly seeking warmth and comfort. Mark had not held a baby since he was a resident so it took a minute getting used to it, but he remembered the basics, like holding the baby with two hands and making sure that one hand was holding the baby's head. None of Derek's sisters ever let him hold their kids and truthfully Mark was okay with that. He was never a kid kind of guy. Holding Chloe felt good though. If he had held her two years ago he would have hoped someone would take her from him.

He didn't hear the footsteps behind him and it wasn't until he felt warm hands on his shoulders did he become aware that he was no longer alone in the NICU holding the baby. He looked up and smiled at Callie who was watching both him and the baby. She had never seen him hold a baby before and she had to admit that he looked good holding a baby. It seemed to suit him better than Callie thought it would.

"How did you know I was here?" Mark asked as he kept his eyes on Callie.

"Addie told me that you were here sitting with the baby." Callie answered softly as she let her chocolate colored eyes drift from Mark to the baby he was holding.

"When did you see her?" Mark asked. He knew something had changed between Derek and Addison in the last few days, he just wasn't sure what it was. Mark hoped that they were back together, but he wasn't going to assume to know anything until they were ready to tell him.

"Just before she went to round on her patients" Callie replied. She watched the baby's eyes flutter closed and the small button nose bury itself into Mark's navy scrub shirt.

"You're good with kids." Callie whispered resting her chin on Mark's shoulder.

"Well I figure that I gotta start getting comfortable with them since we have our own coming in a few months." Mark pointed out. Callie pulled away from Mark and pulled up a chair so she could sit beside him as he held a now sleeping Chloe. Callie rested her hand on her stomach and she smiled as one of them kicked.

"One of them is kicking." Callie whispered. Mark shifted a sleeping Chloe into one arm so that he too could feel the baby's kick."

"Don't drop her." Callie warned, shooting an anxious look at how Chloe was currently being held.

"I won't." Mark promised. Just the same he tightened his hold on her small body so he could make sure that he would not drop her.

"That's my son." Mark told Callie as he ran his hand over her stomach where the baby had just kicked.

"We don't even know if either of them are boys." Callie reminded him. She knew that Mark wanted a son and she just hoped she could deliver that for him. She knew that he would be perfectly happy with a daughter too, but all men wanted a son to carry on the name and Mark was no exception.

"I know this one is my son. He has a kick like a football player already." Mark told Callie. Maybe his son would be a professional football player. Something Mark had thought of when he was in high school. Mark had been good enough to go pro but near the end of football season in his senior year in high school he had suffered a career ending knee injury that had ended his dream of being in the NFL.

"Let's hope he isn't stupid and puts all of his hopes and dreams on football." Callie told Mark pointedly. Of course she was referencing Mark and how he had put all of his hopes into becoming a world famous NFL player. Mark could have taken offense to that, but he didn't. He looked at Callie and said very simply,

"I won't let him."

"Good." Callie whispered. Mark had told her how heartbroken he had been when his doctors told him that his dream of going to the NFL was over. Of course Mark didn't use the word heartbroken. That was Callie's words when she had asked Derek about it the following week. Just then Callie felt another kick from the other side.

"The other one is kicking." Callie murmured. Mark moved his hand instantly and felt his other child kicking.

"This one has a strong kick too." Mark pointed out. He may have been certain that the other baby was a boy but he had no idea what gender this one on the other side was.

"Yeah they both do. Especially-Ouch-when they kick me at the same time." Callie admitted with a slight grimace of pain on her face. Mark shot her a look of concern when she said ouch.

"You okay?" Mark asked nervously. He really didn't want anything to happen to Callie or the babies so he was being extra cautious.

"I'm good Mark." Callie assured him. She knew that he worried about her and the babies and honestly she wished that he didn't worry so much. Right now she and the babies were perfectly healthy and Callie intended to keep it that way.

"So, are you ready to go to our new house this afternoon?" Mark asked.

"We still have to get the key." Callie reminded him. Of course she had no idea that Mark had already received the key a week ago. Mark removed his hand from her stomach and slipped it into his scrub pants pocket and pulled out a silver key.

"You mean this key?" Mark asked as he held it up. Callie looked at Mark and then at the key. Her chocolate brown eyes had lit up with excitement and she looked at the baby in Mark's arms. She wanted to throw her arms around Mark and kiss him. Obviously she couldn't do that when he had a baby in his arms.

"Put Chloe down and kiss me." Callie ordered. When she wanted something or needed something she was not shy in asking for it. Mark could see that look in her eyes so he put Chloe back into her NICU bed and turned his full attention to the sexy pregnant woman sitting next to him. Mark had already completely fallen for the woman beside him and with that came the realization that he would do whatever she asked him to do. He looked at her and leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. His fingers curled around her loose strands of black hair as her hands gripped the back of his scrub top.

"Hey, there are babies in this room." Came a voice from the doorway. Mark and Callie broke apart to see Addison standing in the doorway smirking at the two of them. She was in no way mad at them for kissing in the NICU. In fact she found it rather adorable. She also found it funny that her former lover was a whipped man. He was whipped by Callie Torres and Addison wished that he would stop denying that. Callie's cheeks were red with embarrassment and Mark couldn't help but let his trademark smirk flash across his face.

"It's not as though we were having sex in here Addie." Mark told her innocently. Callie's face went redder at Mark's comment. She could not believe that Mark had said that.

"And the parents of these babies would thank you for not corrupting their kids." Addison teased playfully. Mark stuck his tongue out at Addison and Callie giggled. Really Mark and Addison were much like children sometimes.

"So what's with you and my best friend?" Mark asked with a raise of his eyebrow. He had been wanting to ask that particular question for days and now he wanted answers. Especially since Derek wasn't telling him a single thing.

"We're…hanging out." Addison told Mark. Okay so it was more of a half truth than the full truth but Addison wasn't sure she was ready to tell Mark the truth about her budding romance with Derek.

"Naked hanging out?" Mark asked with a smirk.

"Mark Sloan you shut up right now." Addison hissed as color flooded her cheeks. She hated that Mark could read her so well. Callie swatted Mark's arm and glared at him. She could tell that Addison did not want to talk about it right now and Mark didn't seem to be getting the memo.

"Just tell me if you two are back together." Mark told her. He wanted to know and he felt he was entitled to know if his two best friends had romantically reconciled. After all he had been there with them through everything and he had been the cause of quite a bit of their problems, especially in the last two and a half years.

"Mark you are so nosy." Callie told him with a glare. If Addison wanted to tell her what was going on between herself and Derek, great, if she was not ready yet than Callie would respect that. Callie just wished that Mark would respect that as well.

"Never mind Mark. I came to take over keeping an eye on Chloe so you two can go to your new home." Addison informed Mark, doing her best to change the subject. Mark let her change the subject but he knew there was something that neither Derek nor Addison was telling him and he did not like it. Not one little bit. However Mark did want to take Callie to their new home now that it was officially theirs. So he decided not to push Addison on the subject of her and Derek and whether or not they were together yet. Instead he looked at Callie and smiled at her. Callie was smiling too. Both of them had waited for a very long time to be able to move into their house and the day was finally here. Mark stood up and held out his hands for Callie to take. Callie took them and pulled herself up to a standing position which was getting difficult for her. Mark put his arm around her and Callie tried to snuggle her body into Mark's as best as she could. Addison was smiling as Callie and Mark made their way to the door of the NICU. Addison was excited for them but her desire for a baby with Derek wasn't going away. Knowing it was going to be difficult to conceive was hard for her to accept. Instead of focusing on her fertility issues, she waved at Mark and Callie.

"Have fun, but not too much fun." Addison told them both knowingly. She had a feeling that they would be celebrating their new house with a sexual christening. Callie was laughing as she and Mark left the NICU. She and Mark knew exactly what Addison was talking about and Callie couldn't say that she wasn't hoping that she would be getting some sex tonight. Mark on the other hand had other plans and if they went well,they would not be having sex that night.

When they got to the house, it was just as beautiful on the outside as Callie remembered. It was a brick two story house, but the feature that had completely sealed it for Callie was the spiral staircase inside. Mark handed Callie the key so she could be the first one to step inside the house now that it was officially their house. Callie turned the key and pushed open the door. The first thing she saw was the hardwood floors and then to her left was the spiral staircase with the iron wrought hand rail. Mark stepped inside behind her and he closed the door behind him. He too loved this house and he was looking forward to raising his children here with Callie. He slipped his arm around Callie and pulled her body towards his. He kissed the top of her head and Callie scowled. To her the kiss on the head was cute but she wanted a hot steamy kiss from her babies' father right there in the foyer.

"Kiss me better than that." Callie insisted. After all their kiss in the NICU had been interrupted by Addison. So Callie both wanted and needed a better, longer, sexier kiss. Mark wasn't about to say no to Callie. He pulled her close to his body and pressed his lips to hers softly. He knew that she wanted a deeper sexier kiss but right now he wanted to be soft and gentle with her. His surgeon hands tangled up in her raven locks as Callie's hands ran through Mark's sand colored hair. Callie had been kissed by other men before Mark had come along but in her opinion there was no better kisser in the world than Mark Sloan. George O'Malley never even came close. Neither did Erica Hahn for that matter. Callie would be happy to have Mark kiss her ever single day for the rest of their lives.

"We should go look around." Mark mumbled against her lips. Mark Sloan loved kissing Callie's full lips. He would even skip surgery in favor of kissing Callie. He had kissed many women in his lifetime but the kisses with Callie were in his opinion the best kisses of his life. He did feel as though they should go take a look around and not rush up to the bedroom to tear each other's clothes off. He really didn't want her to think that sex was the only thing he was thinking about. That was the old Mark. The new Mark was aware that there was more to live than sex and surgery.

"We can skip the looking around and just go have really hot sex up in the master bedroom." Callie pointed out with a grin on her face.

"We'll do that later." Mark promised as soon as he pulled his lips off of Callie's. Callie looked at him, surprised that Mark would shoot her down. She looked down at her stomach and her eyes filled with tears. She was afraid that Mark no longer found her attractive. She was getting bigger every day and the last time they had had sex was the day that Callie had bought the house that they were now officially living in. Mark hated seeing Callie cry and he wished that he knew what had caused her eyes to suddenly fill with tears. He wasn't aware that he had done anything to upset her.

"Cal, why are you crying?" Mark asked as he rested a hand on her cheek.

"I'm fat and ugly." Callie whispered as tears slipped down her cheeks.

"No you aren't. You are sexy and beautiful. Most importantly you are keeping our children safe." Mark told her gently. He had no idea why she was saying that she was fat and ugly because to Mark she had never looked more beautiful then she did when she was pregnant with his children.

"Then if I am not fat or ugly why the hell won't you have sex with me?" Callie demanded as she swiped quickly at her fallen tears.

Mark had honestly no idea that this was the reason she was so upset. She was interpreting his refusal to have sex with her as him saying that she was fat and ugly. Sighing Mark looked right at her and smiled at her. He needed her to believe that she was sexy and beautiful. She could never look ugly or fat to him.

"I wanted to take things slow between us Callie. If we are going to make this work, I can't rush into it. We can't rush into it. We have two other people to consider if we don't work out." Mark explained. There he had just told her that he wanted to be with her.

"You love me." Callie accused with a smile falling on her lips. She didn't need him to say it to know that it was true. Knowing that he didn't want to rush the sexual part of the relationship was proof that Mark had fallen in love with her.

"Well I was sorta planning a grand gesture or something but yes I do. I love you." Mark confirmed. Callie's eyes were once again filling with tears, but this time they were happy tears. She threw her arms around Mark's neck and sobbed happy sobs into his black t-shirt.

"I love you too." Callie whispered in between her sobs. Mark was fairly certain that he had not smiled this much in a long time. Hearing that she loved him was an amazing thing to hear. No woman had ever really loved him. Unless you counted Carolyn Shepherd, and Mark didn't. Addison had never loved him in that way either.

"Come on. Let's go upstairs and relax in our new bedroom." Mark told her as he guided her carefully up the spiral staircase.

When Callie pushed open the double doors of the master suite, she gasped. She was sure that none of what was in there now had been part of the house when she and Mark had first seen it. The walls were painted a very light blue and the curtains were white. Callie was sure that it was meant to be a relaxing calming room. She looked at Mark who was smiling. He had known about this surprise. In fact he had received the key a week ago but Addison had wanted to give Callie a relaxing master bedroom while she finished the last few months of her pregnancy. So Addison and Derek had worked on it while Callie remained oblivious.

"You did this?" Callie asked in complete disbelief as she looked at Mark.

"Actually Addie and Derek did it. Addie wanted you to have something relaxing during your last few months of pregnancy." Mark told her. Callie couldn't believe that Mark, Addison and Derek had kept this from her. It was a beautiful bedroom. The furniture was all cherry wood too which matched the cherry wood sleigh bed that she and Mark had bought. Callie took off her shoes and went straight to the bed and climbed into it and put her head back. She hadn't noticed until now how much her feet were hurting. Mark took his shoes off and he climbed into bed and took her left foot in his hands and rubbed it. Sure it wasn't sex but as long as they were close, Mark didn't care. He wanted to take things slowly and he wanted the official start of their relationship to begin with something other than sex.

"That feels…amazing." Callie admitted. She had to admit that right now she didn't see the need for sex. Knowing that Mark didn't see the need for it either made her feel better too.

"Just relax Cal." Mark told her as he kept rubbing her foot.

"I have never been this relaxed." Callie admitted. Just then she remembered a Jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom and she longed for a long hot bath.

"I want a bath." Callie muttered. Mark chuckled softly when he heard that. He had a feeling that she needed to feel totally relaxed and he wanted her to feel that.

"I'll go start one." Mark told her. He fully planned to pamper and spoil Callie as much as he could during the rest and possibly most difficult time in her pregnancy. He stood up and went into the master bathroom and started a bath for his girlfriend. It felt so good to be able to call Callie his girlfriend and he was looking forward to being able to say just that at work.

"Make sure there's bubbles in there!" Callie called from the bedroom. Mark had a feeling that Callie would be a demanding pregnant woman, but Mark didn't care. He was willing to do anything for this woman. When the tub was full of hot water and bubbles, Mark returned to the bedroom and helped Callie stand up. They walked into the bathroom and Callie removed her clothes and with Mark's help she stepped into the tub. She looked up at Mark who was still standing by the tub.

"Are you coming in or what?" Callie asked with a hopeful smile. Of course Mark wanted to join her, but he also wanted to keep his word about letting this relationship start slowly and not with sex on the first official night.

"Promise no funny business Cal?" Mark asked as he pulled his black t-shirt over his head. Callie wished that Mark hadn't asked her that when he was in the process of removing his shirt. She had no idea why he had picked her. Not only to have kids with but also to fall in love with.

"Promise." Callie finally told him reluctantly. Mark looked warily at Callie as he pulled his pants and boxers and socks off his body. Callie couldn't help but watch as he undressed. She was thinking dirty thoughts about him and what he did to her. Most especially about what that man could do with his tongue. Mark finally slipped into the tub in front of Callie. He hadn't gone behind her because he knew that he would be more tempted to touch her and kiss her and do things to her that he promised himself would not happen yet. Callie was totally and completely relaxed right now. The bubbles and the warm water was exactly what she needed.

"This is a beautiful house." Callie admitted as she brushed her hand across her stomach. She was so excited to have the babies and be with Mark in this beautiful house.

"We are so lucky." Mark replied. Not only were they lucky because they got this amazing house but they were lucky because they were having twins and they had each other. Mark finally was getting what he had wanted for a very long time. He was getting a family. One that was all his and one that no one could take from him.

Nearly a half an hour later, Mark and Callie stepped out of the tub. The water was growing cold and Callie wanted to sleep. Sure they still had to eat but it was only three in the afternoon. She could have a nap and then she would wake up for dinner. She didn't even bother to get dressed and neither did Mark. They crawled into bed and Callie rested her head on Mark's chest and both her right hand and his left hand rested on her bare stomach. They were enjoying feeling the babies kicking.

"We really should come up with more names. They'll be here sooner than we realize." Callie pointed out.

"How about Jaclyn?" Mark offered.

"I like it. Definitely on our short list." Callie agreed.

"Along with Katelyn and Olivia and Liam and Ryan right?" Mark asked, remembering the four names they had already picked out.

"Yes." Callie confirmed before she yawned. Mark looked at her and he could see that she was tired. Mark didn't want her overtiring herself.

"Sleep Cal." Mark ordered in that stern no nonsense voice that he used sometimes when people were not listening to him.

"But I want to talk baby names." Callie whined with a pout. Usually the pout worked on Mark, but not when he could tell that Callie desperately needed sleep.

"We can discuss them when you wake up for dinner." Mark told her firmly. Callie scowled, but snuggled her body into Mark's without another complaint. Before Mark had pulled the covers higher over Callie, Callie was sound asleep. Mark wasn't sleepy, but he figured he would thumb through the baby name book that Addison had stashed in the nightstand. That way he would have some names to suggest to Callie when she woke up in a few hours.