I'll take this slow sweet walk with you
You'll let go of my hand to say: I do
He will discover just how blessed a life can be
I know cuz all those years ago
Someone handed you to me
Every step that we take
Brings back the memories
Winter snows and horse shows
Dancing on the beach
I can't help thinking that I'm the lucky one
You're still my baby daughter
And now I've gained a son
Owen was walking around the hospital in search of his assistant when he saw a mane of ebony curls running down the corridor with her teddy bear in hand, her little feet filling the hall with her pitter-patter and her chubby little legs fighting to keep her balance. She ran right into his legs and fell onto her butt. He smiled down at her but his smile turned into a frown when he saw that her eyes were red and her cheeks were tear stained. He quickly kneeled in front of her and gave her a warm smile. Owen was instantly worried, he wondered why she was running around the hospital and why she had been crying, he also wondered where Cristina was, he had heard from the board that her first official day was today, and he couldn't contain his excitement.
"Hi there little one," He said as he tentatively wiped the tears from her eyes and pushed her hair back out of her face.
"Now why is such a beautiful girl have tears in her eyes?" Owen spoke in a soothing voice and she looked up at him for the first time and instantly fell in love. She seemed quite smitten my his handsome face and piercing blue eyes so she put her hands up in a motion to be picked up.
"I want up." She said sternly.
Owen let out a heart-felt laugh and shook his head, "Definitely Cristina's daughter.'
He said more to himself then to her. He picked her up into his arms while she cradled her teddy bear with one hand and used her free hand to trace the lines on his face, clearly mesmerized by him.
"You know my mommy?" She asked in awe with raised eyebrows.
"Yes, I know your mommy, I've known her for a very long time." He gave her another smile and she gasped in surprise, her little brain working overtime trying to figure out why he looked so familiar.
"I know you." She stated and gave him a huge smile that melted his heart.
"You probably saw me at the party that you and your mom went to, I saw you run up on stage and help her with her speech, you were so adorable, everyone thought so." She giggled happily.
"Mommy win so many awards, me love her sooooooo much." She stated Owen's smiled turned into a frown, his heart ached, on one side he was so happy that Cristina was happy and on the other side he wished he knew what it felt like to be the center of a child universe, to have his baby talk about him like she was talking about her mother. "But me no have a daddy." She stated in a surprisingly humorous voice and raised her hands as if motioning around the room, "Mommy said that no man good enough to be my daddy yet."
She signed loudly while Owen watched the little girl talk in awe. "My name Tatiana, What's your name?" She asked him.
She had moved from tracing the lines on his face to playing with his beard.
"My name is Dr. Owen Hunt, Tatiana, what a beautiful name for such a beautiful girl."
Tatiana smiled and batted her eye-lashed at him while her cheeks flushed a shade of red. "Now, Tatiana can you tell me what made you cry baby girl?" Owen asked as he began walking around the hospital with Tatiana securely positioned on his side.
Her smile turned into an angry frown in a split second. "I was in daycare and stupid Bailey said that when I grow up he is gonna marry me!" She stated with a pained look on her face, the anger seeping into her all over again. "I don't want to get married, boys are gross!, I want to stay with mommy forever!"
"Well, I can't say I'm not happy that you don't like boys right now but one day Tatiana, you will actually think boys are cute and one day you might want to marry one."
Tatiana crinkled her nose in disgust, Owen let out laugh at her stubbornness.
"Well don't worry, you do not have to marry anyone if you don't want to." He said trying to soothe her. She rested her head on his shoulder and thought that marriage might not be so bad, if she could marry Dr. Hunt. She noticed that they were making their way back to the daycare and her head instantly shot up, "No!" She wailed, "I don't want to go back right now!"
She looked like she was ready to scream bloody murder. "Okay, Okay," Owen halted to a stop. "Where do you wanna go?" He asked.
"I scream, you scream, we all cream for ice cream!" She said cheerily while trying to clap her hands together.
Owen couldn't believe how adorable she was, Cristina had done such a wonderful job so far, he couldn't understand why she ever thought she would be anything less that a perfect mother and it showed through Tatiana, this little bundle of joy was the most precious little girl he'd ever met and he couldn't help himself from hugging her tightly and giving her chubby cheeks and forehead kisses. They made their way to the cafeteria and Owen got them both drumstick ice-cream. She clung to him for dear life, even when he tried to place her on a chair right next to him, she insisted on sitting on his lap.
I'll take this slow sweet walk with you
You'll let go of my hand to say : I do
He will discover just how blessed a life can be
I know 'cause all those years ago
Your mom handed you to me
Don't miss a chance to put each other first
Now that you've vowed for better or for worse
Don't let the beauty of this life pass you by
In the times of trouble you'll stand side by side
That is the scene Cristina walked into when she decided to stop in the cafeteria for a muffin. It was her first day back at the hospital and she had tried to look for him to no avail so she decided to grab a snack before searching for him around the hospital again. She needed to see him, to talk to him, to make him not hate her and ask if there was a chance that he would still want to be with her. She instantly saw him in line paying for the ice cream with her daughter held tightly into his embrace. She wanted to walk up to them but something stopped her, she wanted to see them interact, something about seeing the two of them together made it hard for her to breathe.
She watched as Owen tried to sit Tatiana in the chair right beside him and she watched as her stubborn daughter let out a cry and crawled onto his lap and rested her head against his chest while he opened the ice-cream packaging for her and placed it carefully in her hands. She sighed, this scene was heart-melting, God, this man was meant to be a father, she thought. Cristina couldn't help but smile watching Tatiana eat her ice-cream, she was playing with Owen's beard with one hand, looking up at him in awe while trying to hold the drumstick with her other hand and feed herself.
This was too perfect she thought, she missed him so much, she still loved him so much. Her voyeurism was put to a halt when he looked up and noticed her standing by the doorway. His smile and infatuation with her daughter completely diminished off his face when saw her but a sheepish grin appeared on his face when he saw the corners of her mouth twitch upwards and a sparkle in her eyes. Tatiana followed Owen's gaze and saw her mother approaching them, but instead of yelling out for her, she waved her hand at her and then focused her attention back onto Owen and his beard.
"Hey there now." He said as her stomach flipped at his choice of wording.
"Hi," She replied, a full on grin plastered on her face which she could not get rid of.
Owen tried to get up from his seat to give Cristina a proper hello but she motioned for him not to move and instead gave him a kiss on the cheek, he lips lingering there as he he brought up his hand to lightly caress her face and give her a quick peck on her forehead.
"I see you've met Tatiana." She stated while reaching over and giving her daughter a peck on the top of her head. Before Owen could reply, Tatiana spoke up.
"Owen saved me, Bailey said that when I grow up, i'm gonna marry him and I got mad and ran out of daycare and then I fell and Owen pick me up." Tatiana said the whole sentence in one big breath and inhaled sharply at the end before returning to her ice cream cone.
Cristina let out an amused chuckle, "One day you will like boys." She said to Tatiana and gave Owen a wink.
"I only like Owen." Tatiana stated. "Can I marry him mommy?" She asked.
Owen and Cristina instantly locked eyes and laughed at the irony of the situation.
I'll take this slow sweet walk with you
You'll let go of my hand to say : I do
I picture a slow sweet walk yet to be
When you'll take my hand and say : Daddy come see
Then you'll know what it felt like
You won't believe what it feels like
Then you'll know what it felt like
When she handed you to me
She handed you to me