Chapter Text
"I need some suction here..." Dr. Shepherd murmurs, as Lexie stands beside him, assisting on his surgery to remove a tumor from the 30 year old man laying below them. "so you're definitely going with neuro then, Little Grey?"
Lexie smiles beneath her surgical mask at her brother-in-law's question, her brother-in-law who is struggling to remain casual about his younger sister choosing to be a Neuro Attending at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. "Yes, I'm sure. Also, it's not Little Grey anymore."
Derek nods, his eyes crinkling with his warm smile. "Uh huh. Soon to be Attending Surgeon Dr. Sloan. Your photographic memory will definitely come in hand during the intense surgeries here."
Lexie nods, smiling, feeling her cool wedding ring beneath her surgical glove. "Are we still planning on dinner tonight?"
"Yes," Derek nods, lowering his gaze to the open brain tissue below his instruments. "Zola is helping us cook, she loves pasta. Bailey has agreed to help set the table."
Lexie laughs at that, assisting Derek cut. "Well, chores are always a battle ground, we're finally getting Sofia to start making her bed."
Derek laughs, as Lexie thinks back to this morning, as she was packing her purse with her lip balm and wallet, and Mark was eating his breakfast at the table, eggs and bacon, chatting energetically with Sofia about his patient for the day who had needed lip surgery due to scar tissue. It was their days with Sofia, who, although she lived across the hall from them with Callie, spent Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays exclusively with Mark and Lexie.
"Why did she have scar tissue?" Sofia had asked her father, eating some of the whole wheat cereal Lexie had finally gotten her to try.
"She had this infection two years ago," Mark had explained with equal eagerness, "she had contracted MRSA from her school locker room- they told me her coaches never even bothered to bleach it! What idiots! Anyway, MRSA is a very dangerous and deadly form of staph, and it spread to an absyss in her upper lip and another infection in her calf-"
"Was she septic?" Sofia had interjected, and Lexie had smiled at her stepdaughter's brilliance.
"Yes, she had intense pain between her ribs, had a soaring fever and could barely breathe. The infection on her face turned black and swollen, it spread in huge red lines all the way dow to her jaw and up to her temple..." Mark illustrated with his fingers, drawing lines along his gorgeously handsome beard and jaw. "...and the infectious disease guys never even bothered to page me! When they finally got her on an antibiotic that worked, and all that swelling went down, she was left with a bunch of scar tissue on her lip that created a bump under the skin."
"Dad, what about the calf?" Sofia has asked, and Mark had nodded.
"Lucky for her the dermatologists cut it off for a culture. However, it left a horrible purple scar."
"So are you gonna help her with that too?" Sofia had asked, eyes wide, and Lexie had smiled, moving over to slide her hand along her husband's back and shoulders. Mark had winked to his daughter.
"You bet."
"See you at work," Lexie had said to Mark, as he had reached up squeeze her hand, his silver wedding band shining, leaning down to kiss him, as Sofia had pretending to gag. "and see you for dinner, Sof." Lexie had told Sofia with a laugh, heading out the door.
Now, Lexie stands in the OR with Derek, finding that her breasts are oddly aching. She shifts her stance multiple times, as she and Derek remove the rest of the tumor and one of the residents help close, she heads out of the OR to take off her scrubs, and thinks, tracing back the days, the weeks...
Lexie hurries down the hall to the pharmacy, and orders an at-home pregnancy test, her heart hammering. She and Mark have always wanted to start a family, ever since she has known him he has wanted children- since Addison had an abortion against his wishes, when Sloan moved away, when Sofia was born premature and sickly and he stayed beside her day and night. Lexie has always wanted to be a mother, especially seeing Meredith with Zola and Bailey, but there always seemed to be too much work as a resident or intern. But now that she and Mark are married, that she has her career lined up, now would be perfect.
Lexi rushes to the bathroom, peeing on the two sticks and waiting in the stall, bouncing her knees, realizing how badly she wants this. She wants this for her and Mark, to have their own little child to nurture. Their baby would be beautiful, and smart...Lexie grasps the two tests, gazing down to see the word she has been hoping for: 'Pregnant.' Dr. Lexie Sloan feels tears prickling her eyes, her hand pressing down to her stomach, smiling widely, giddily, feeling her heart soar. A baby. She is pregnant, she is going to be a mother. Counting back the weeks, she guesses she must be around eight weeks, the last time she and Mark had unprotected sex, and she laughs, thinking about how easy these first few weeks have been.
"Hi baby," she whispers to her stomach quietly, a huge smile across her cheeks, tucking some of her brunette hair behind her ear.
Mark's proposal to Lexie had been perfect. They had only rekindled their marriage for a few weeks when Mark came to her door, holding the ring, sparkling and beautiful, in his hand.
"Marry me," he had told her, smiling, kneeling down onto his knees, using the same words that Lexie had used those years ago (Teach me, teach me), and he had repeated it, as Lexie had cried with joy and wiped her tears, "marry me, marry me." Finally, he had smiled, his radiant, shining, smile, and asked her, "Come on, am I really that bad?"
"No," she had replied, her voice trembling with euphoria, with bliss, repeating the words that Mark had said to her, "I am." And Mark had risen to his feet, as she had rushed forward, clutching his chiseled cheeks in her palms, kissing him deeply, before Mark had slid the ring onto her finger, shaking and smiling.
Their wedding had been equally perfect. They were married in a modern church, with wide open windows to allow a view of the grand trees behind them, the lush grass, the flowers. Meredith had given Lexie away, as the she walked down the aisle in a long-sleeved, lace, tight gown, her brown hair in a swirling bun, decorated with diamond embellishments, holding a bouquet of white lily-in-the-valley flowers. And Mark had been waiting for her, with Derek as his best man, smiling and with shining tears in his eyes. All their fellow surgeons were in attendance, with Sofia serving as the flower girl.They had said their vows, speaking gently to one another, intimately. At the reception, their first dance had been to Snow Patrol's 'Chasing Cars', and Mark had kissed her forehead, as she had rested her palm on his tailored black tux, smiling. April had caught the bouquet. They had cut the cake, laughing and celebrating.
Their lives together have been perfect. She tucks both positive pregnancy tests into her locker and shrugs on her white lab coat, going on rounds, eagerly waiting to deliver the news to her husband.
As her shift ends, Lexie waits outside the hospital, in a black coat, her hair down, for Mark to head out to meet her. She sees him emerge, in his leather jacket, and they smile to one another, as she moves forward to kiss him.
"How was you day?" She asks him, as he wraps an arm around her.
"Fantastic, I feel like a god!" He remarks, "And you?"
Lexie nods, thinking of the little being, nestled inside her, and takes his hand, squeezing it gently. He cocks his head, wide smile still illuminating his features, as Lexie beams. "I'm pregnant."
Mark beams, gazing at Lexie, their eyes meeting, his eyes seeming to shine with tears. "Really?"
She nods, her own eyes feeling wet. "Yes!"
Mark leans forward, wrapping his arms around her, rocking her back and forth, as the two of them laugh and gasp with excitement. "Oh my god! This is amazing!" He kisses her cheek, her temple, as she presses her lips to his and they kiss deeply, lovingly. As they pull apart slowly, Mark lowers his hand, pressing it to his wife's flat stomach, as she smiles.
"Hey there, baby!" He exclaims, then raising his eyes to Lexie's. "I love you, Lex."
Lexie smiles. "I love you too."
"Can we tell Derek and Meredith? Tonight at dinner?" He asks, as though he will explode if he cannot share the glorious news.
"Yeah!" Lexie agrees, already wanting to scream with excitement.
"I bet our baby is already beautiful." Mark tells her, wrapping his arm around her.
"Just like us." Lexie agrees, leaning up to kiss her husband's cheek.