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Chapter 40

“What are you doing?” Lexie whispered softly with a smile on her face as she tiptoed over to Mark.

“Just enjoying the view” Mark answered without even looking at Lexie, he was far too busy admiring Mattie and Hailey who were both sound asleep in their crib.

“They’re not going anywhere” Lexie pointed out while wrapping her arms around Mark’s waist.

It had only been six hours since Lexie and the girls had been released from the hospital and yet Mark had been reluctant to let either one of them out of his sight.

Mark nodded his head without saying a word as he continued to watch his sleeping daughters; he still couldn’t believe that they were actually here let alone the fact that they belonged to him.

“Thank you” Mark whispered as he finally looked away from the girls and over to Lexie, for a woman who had only given birth six days ago she still looked like the most beautiful woman in the world as far as Mark was concerned.

“You know you’ve been saying thank you quite a lot over the last few days but I still have no idea for what” Lexie pointed out with a sweet smile.

Mark cupped Lexie’s face in his hands and kissed her softly on the lips, with a six week ban in place Mark had made a rule with himself to keep the touching to a minimum so that he wouldn’t drive himself insane.

But it didn’t take long before Mark realised that there was no way in hell that he’d ever be able to stick to it. So instead Mark told himself that it was all just a matter of self-control, as long as he had control over the situation and over himself that these six weeks would be breeze.

Mark gently grasped Lexie’s hand and led her across the hall over their bedroom so that they wouldn’t wake the girls up. He quickly sat down on the bed and pulled Lexie on to his lap, he tightened his grip around Lexie’s waist.

“Where do you want me to begin” Mark asked.

“A straight answer would be nice” Lexie replied softly, despite being across the hall Lexie was afraid that the sound of their voices would wake the girls up.

Unfortunately for Mark and Lexie it seemed that their father’s looks wasn’t the only thing that Hailey and Mattie had inherited from Mark, they were both terribly light sleepers.

“Lexie you know that I’m not Derek or Owen, I don’t do the whole talking about your feelings stuff…”

“That’s not the man I married” Lexie jumped in with a smirk on her face.

“But still, that doesn’t mean I can’t thank you for everything you’ve done” Mark argued back, he had to stop the sudden urge he had to roll his eyes as he heard Lexie scoff.

“Ok just so we’re clear…what have I done that requires you to thank me exactly?” Lexie asked with a questioning look on her face.

Mark softly kissed Lexie on her lips, “I’m thanking you for fighting for us even when I probably didn’t deserver it and when you had every reason to walk away, for falling in love with me, for marrying me” Mark explained before kissing Lexie sweetly.

Lexie could sense the need and the passion behind that one sweet kiss; she let out a soft moan as she reluctantly pulled away. “You’re not going to make the next six weeks easy on either of us are you?” Lexie teased with a smirk.

“See, that’s the biggest reason I need to thank you…for seeing who I really am, for realising that somewhere deep down there was a guy in here that was actually worth something. But also for giving me the two most precious little girls on this entire planet and for believing that I was good enough to be their father” Mark explained in a shaky voice.

Even after all the I love yous, a marriage and the birth of Hailey and Mattie, Mark still had this crazy fear that one morning he’d wake up only to find out that it was nothing but a dream…that Lexie was still just an Intern who was in love with O’Malley and he was nothing but an Attending as far as Lexie was concerned.

Lexie swallowed the knot in her throat while she tried really hard not to cry, she looked Mark in the eyes as she began the run her fingers through his hair. “Mark Sloan may not be a man of many words…but when he actually does use them, they’re the sweetest and most loving words anyone has ever said to me” Lexie announced with a smile on her face.

Mark finally let go of the breath he had been holding and moved in closer towards Lexie so that he could kiss her when suddenly the phone began to ring. The minute that the phone rang Mark and Lexie had instantly heard a loud cry coming from the girls’ room.

Mark groaned in annoyance, “I’m going to kill whoever that is” Mark declared through gritted teeth. From the moment they were born Mark hated hearing the sound of his daughters crying, because it meant that they were upset or unhappy…and those were two things that Mark swore Hailey and Mattie would never be.

“You get the girls, I’ll get the phone” Lexie ordered before quickly running over to her side of the bed so she could answer the phone.

“Daddy’s coming” Mark called out to the sounds of a crying baby.

Lexie shook her head with a smile, telling herself that Mark was like putty in their hands when it came to the big, bad Plastic surgeon and his daughters.

**************

“Ok which one of you is making all that noise” Mark joked as he walked over to the crib and was surprised to find that while Mattie was crying her eyes out Hailey was still sound asleep.

“Did the phone wake you up huh?” Mark asked softly with a smile as he gently picked Mattie up and began to cradle her in his arms.

As soon as Mattie heard her father’s voice and felt being held in his arms she immediately stopped crying. Holding her hands out in fascination, Mattie quietly laid in Mark’s arms as she continued to look up at Mark with a matching pair of blue eyes.

Mark shook his head with a smirk on his face, “you know if you wanted me to hold you, you could have just said so” Mark teased with a funny little voice, a voice that seemed to get a smile out of Mattie.

Mark felt his heart stop as he looked down at his smiling daughter while she laid there in Mark’s arms; her smile was the splitting image of Lexie’s. “God help me” Mark declared with a shake of his head, if Mattie and Hailey both had the exact same smile as their mother’s then Mark knew that there was no doubt about it…he would officially be screwed.

He knew that from now on all they’d have to do is smile at him and Mark would cave no matter what. “You and your sister better not get any ideas of tag teaming against me with your mother” Mark warned Mattie.

Despite not being able to really understand her father Mattie seemed to have found something funny about it as she let out a squeal of laughter. Mark shook his head as he moved to put Mattie back down but stopped once he saw that Hailey was wide awake as well.

“You know it would be really good if the two of you weren’t so much like your old man and actually slept like baby’s should” Mark suggested.

Both girls smiled at the sound of their father’s voice, “well since you’re both up then I guess we may as well discuss the small matter of house rules” Mark declared as he gently picked Hailey up.

Mark still couldn’t believe that he had ever been worried about being able to tell Hailey and Mattie apart when they were first born. Lexie had been right all along, while Mark couldn’t explain it he just knew…all he had to do was look at their tiny little faces and Mark immediately knew who Mattie was and who Hailey was.

Holding a baby in each arm Mark carefully made his way over to the rocking chair, which Carolyn had bought for Lexie, and sat down. “Now if you two are going to be living under my roof then there are a few ground rules that you’re going to have to abide by” Mark declared with a stern look on his face.

Both Hailey and Mattie seemed to find Mark’s serious face quite amusing and began to smile at him.

Mark shook his head in disbelief, while he could make an Intern cower in fear and cry his own daughters found him amusing.

“So neither of you are buying the tough guy act huh?” Mark asked in mock disappointment, deep down Mark was grateful because the last thing he wanted was for his daughters to be terrified of him.

While Mark wasn’t sure in how to go about it he did know that he wanted Hailey and Mattie to feel safe around him, to know that he would do anything to protect them and more importantly that no matter what they could always come to him.

“Ok rule number one, when mommy and daddy are sleeping you two are sleeping, you got that ladies?” Mark declared with a smile. “Rule number two, whenever mommy and day tell you to do something then you have to do it. Rule number three, you can’t give mommy such a hard time when daddy’s at work because it’s a hard job looking after two babies at once” Mark explained softly in a silly voice.

Lexie stood in the doorway, going unnoticed by Mark who was too caught up in his conversation with the girls. Lexie couldn’t help but smile as she watched Mark sitting there and just talking to his daughters like they could understand everything he was saying to them. Lexie couldn’t believe that Mark ever doubted his ability to be a good father.

“And finally rule number four, actually it’s the most important rule out of all of them so you two better listen carefully to me…no matter what daddy does, no matter how silly, or how stupid, or how mean it might be, the two of you have to always love your daddy” Mark declared with a shaky voice, he knew that it was silly but there was apart of him that felt the need to say it out loud.

Lexie had to force herself not to cry as she heard Mark say those words; while Mark’s fears seemed to be irrational to her and to everyone else they were very real to Mark. Lexie could slowly feel the guilt creeping up on her as she felt like an intruder, here Mark was trying to have a quite daddy daughter moment and she was listening in on it.

Lexie quietly tiptoed away from door before Mark noticed that she was there and then headed back towards the door, hoping that Mark was completely oblivious to it all. “Hey” Lexie called out quietly, “it’s the Chief” Lexie whispered pointing to the phone which she was holding against her chest.

Mark shook his head as to tell her that he wasn’t taking any phone calls from the hospital; he had already informed the Chief that he wouldn’t be going into work for the next two weeks.

“He says it’s important” Lexie added with a pleading look on her face for him to take it, they both knew that if Mark didn’t take the call then the Chief would just keep ringing…he could be a very stubborn man.

Mark sighed as he slowly rose from the chair and made his way to the crib so that he could put Mattie and Hailey back down.

The instant that the two little girls felt their father let go of them they both began to cry, in some twisted way Mark felt happy about it. To know that his daughters would rather be held by him then lying in a crib gave him a sense of pride.

“I won’t be long” Mark told Lexie as he kissed her on the cheek and quickly took the phone from her.

“Richard” Mark answered over the phone as he stood in the doorway and watched Lexie try to settle Hailey and Mattie down, he then walked away.

“I know, I know, you want daddy” Lexie spoke softly as she tried to calm the girls down, apparently her voice didn’t have the same soothing affect that Mark’s had on them.

Mark hadn’t been joking when he said that he wouldn’t be long, not even a second after Lexie had finally managed to calm the girls down Mark reappeared with an annoyed look on his face.

Lexie could read Mark like an open book and his demeanour was clearly telling her that the conversation he had just had with the Chief wasn’t a friendly one.

“Everything ok” Lexie asked with a concerned look on her face.

Mark silently nodded his head as he reached out and picked Hailey up, she instantly smiled at him. “Hey there my little munchkin” Mark called out softly before kissing her lightly on the head.

Lexie shook her head with a mocking glare, “this is unbelievable…I carried them for eight months yet they like you better” Lexie announced while trying not to grin.

Lexie wasn’t the jealous type and nor did she have a reason to be, Lexie loved the fact that Hailey and Matter were so receptive to Mark. She could see the burst of pride and love that was clearly etched on to his face whenever his daughters chose him over Lexie.

“What can I say, the Grey women have impeccable taste…well all except for one that is because I’m still questioning Meredith’s” Mark teased as he lent over towards Lexie and kissed her on the cheek.

“I’ll tell Derek you said that” Lexie threatened with a playful grin.

“You do that” Mark told her as he looked back down at Hailey, “because we’re not afraid of uncle Derek are we Hailey…no we’re not, uncle Derek’s not scary, he’s nothing but big cuddly teddy bear” Mark answered in a silly voice as he shook his head at Hailey.

Lexie couldn’t help but giggle at the silly way Mark was talking to Hailey, “I’d stop that if I was you otherwise you’re going to start talking to all your patients like that…yes you are, yea you are” Lexie teased, mocking the silly voice that Mark had just used a second earlier.

“Mommy’s a mean mommy” Mark cried with a pout, pretending to be really hurt by her actions.

Hailey smiled again at the funny face that Mark was making, while Mattie let out a soft cooing sound just to remind her parents that there were two of them.

Lexie shook her head as she picked up Mattie who also smiled at being held by one of her parents.

Mark smirked as he looked back and forth between Hailey and Mattie, “how did we end up with two happy and smiley babies?” Mark asked with a playful grin.

Lexie sighed, “I should have known that this day would come, Mark I’m sorry to tell you this but…the truth is that Derek is Hailey and Mattie’s real father” Lexie teased with a goofy grin on her face.

“Not funny” Mark panned while trying not to let a grin slip out, “I was only stating a fact” Mark argued. If this had happened two years ago and Lexie had made that exact same joke Mark knew that it would have hurt, but he could honestly say without a doubt that it didn’t.

He knew that Lexie was joking and it didn’t bother him, besides Mark already knew in the back of his mind that if god forbid something ever happened to him there would be no one else he’d want being a father figure to Hailey and Mattie other than Derek.

Lexie rolled her eyes, “well I’m sorry that it disappoints you that your children aren’t all dark and twisty like you and Meredith” Lexie teased.

Mark shrugged his shoulders, “I guess I’ll just have to learn to live with it” Mark answered casually. But deep down Mark was grateful that his daughters had the same happy disposition as their mother, Mark didn’t want his daughter to turn out to be anything like him…to fear in trusting people or to fear loving someone when they’re adults.

“What did the Chief want?” Lexie asked again, she wasn’t going to let Mark off the hook that easily.

“Nothing” Mark answered casually; he really didn’t want to get into it right now.

“Mark that might work on everyone else but it won’t work on me, you’re forgetting that I know you Mark Sloan” Lexie argued softly, she didn’t want to scare Mattie or Hailey.

Mark sighed as he shook his head, “honestly Lexie it’s nothing, he just wanted to know whether I’d be able to go into the hospital because they have an emergency that requires an ENT” Mark explained.

“What time are you going to be home?” Lexie asked without even considering the fact that Mark would have told the Chief no.

Mark frowned while trying not to get mad at Lexie, “I love how you just assume that I’m ready and willing to drop everything that’s going on here and go back to the hospital” Mark argued in disbelief.

It hurt Mark to know that Lexie thought he’d be willing to walk away from them so easily just for the sake of the hospital.

“Mark” Lexie called out to his retreating back, “it’s not like there’s really much going on here that you’d be dropping for the hospital. Besides, I’m not saying that you have no problem walking away from us…I know that you never would, I just don’t want you to feel like you have to choose between being a surgeon and being a father” Lexie explained with a pleading look for him to understand.

Mark sighed as he turned around, still holding Hailey in his arms. “Lexie there’s no choice to be made, if it’s a choice between being a surgeon and being a father to Mattie and Hailey they’ll always win. My father always put his career ahead of me; he always made sure that I knew he thought of me as nothing more than an interference to his career…and I refuse to do that to Hailey or Mattie” Mark argued passionately before walking out of the room with Hailey still in his arms.

Lexie looked down at Mattie who was no longer smiling at her; it was almost as thought Mattie knew that her father was upset and that Lexie was to blame for it. “Mommy made a booboo” Lexie declared with a sad look on her face, she hated being the one to upset Mark.

**************

Dinner had been a quiet affair between the to of them, while Mattie and Hailey had already been feed and put to bed, Mark and Lexie sat in complete silence as they ate their own dinner.

Lexie had to stop herself from cringing at the sound of Mark’s plate banging as he practically threw it into the kitchen sink before he stormed off into the living room.

Lexie sighed as she rose from her seat and began to clear the table, she hated fighting with Mark. While it didn’t happen very often, when they did have a fight it would always end up being a big one.

As she stood there washing the dishes Lexie could feel the tears sliding down her cheeks while the sound of her cries were covered by the running water. Lexie had spent the whole afternoon trying to apologise to Mark but he wouldn’t hear it, apparently she had well and truly hurt him and right now he needed to be mad at her.

Lexie could hear footsteps coming towards her so she quickly turned the water and began to wipe her eyes; she didn’t want Mark to know that she had been crying or to make him feel guilty.

Unfortunately Lexie wasn’t quick enough and Mark did manage to get a glimpse of her wiping her eyes, he didn’t need to be a genius to know that she had been crying.

Mark felt like a complete ass, he knew that he had overreacted but by the time he had realised that this little silent fight they seemed to have going on had gone way too far for him to stop it.

Lexie didn’t want to push her luck with him, so deciding that Mark just needed some time alone she had every intention of just checking up on the girls and going straight to bed. “I’m going to head up” Lexie answered flatly as she tried to keep the all emotion out of her voice.

Mark cringed at the sound of Lexie being so cold and distant, suddenly Mark felt a shiver run down his spine as he remembered that day at the hospital…the day he had seen how distant Miranda and Tucker had been towards each other.

“Lexie” Mark cried out in a panic before walking down the hallway in big strides to catch up to her and wrapped his arms around Lexie and held on to her tightly, almost desperately.

“Mark” Lexie called out hesitantly as she stroked the back of his hair; she sighed in relief at the feeling of being held in his arms.

“I’m sorry” Mark apologised before kissing her on the cheek, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry” Mark repeated over and over again as he kissed her on the lips in between each apology. He was desperate for Lexie to believe him, for her to know that he still loved her and always would.

Lexie shook her head in protest, “you don’t have anything to apologise for” Lexie whispered softly against his ear. “I’m the one that should be sorry, but Mark I need you to know that I wasn’t trying to compare you to Carter…believe me when I say that you being Carter Sloan is the furthest thing from reality”.

“I know” Mark whispered while resting his forehead against Lexie’s, “I just overreacted, I’m sorry and I’ll try to make it up to you” Mark swore.

Lexie smiled as she wrapped her arms around Mark’s neck, “Well then you’ll just have to save that apology for another six weeks” Lexie informed him with a seductive smirk.

Mark shook his head as he crashed his lips down on top of Lexie’s in a desperate and hungry kiss, praying like hell that Lexie understood just how sorry he was. It was insane he knew that, but there was a part of him that felt like he couldn’t breathe properly not being able to share the most intimate action with his wife.

“Mark she just had two babies, give the woman a break” Derek called out with a smile on his face.

Mark and Lexie reluctantly broke apart as they turned too look at Derek who was standing in the doorway of the front door. “I thought I locked the front door” Mark commented to Lexie with a frown on his face.

“You did” Derek answered before waving his key in the air.

“We need to collect the spare keys that they all have or change the locks” Mark ordered Lexie while trying not to smile at Derek.

“You do that, and then Lexie will just give Meredith another key” Derek answered casually as he walked into the living room and flopped down onto the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table.

“You don’t live here anymore” Mark pointed out to Derek with a smirk on his face before joining Derek on the couch.

Lexie shook her head in disbelief, sometimes she really couldn’t believe how Mark’s demeanour would change like the flip of a switch.

“Meredith’s working late so I figured I’d drop by and check on my two favourite little nieces” Derek explained with a proud smile on his face.

“Ooh I’m telling Katie and Emma” Mark chanted with a smirk on his face.

“Are you hungry Derek, because we have some left over’s from dinner?” Lexie asked; Derek wasn’t any different to Mark when it came to work and food. The two of them would always get so caught up with surgery’s that they ignored their own stomachs.

“That would be great” Derek answered as he made himself more comfortable on the couch, “uhh life can’t get any better than this” Derek declared as Lexie walked away.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mark asked curiously at the big cheesy grin on Derek’s face.

“I’m just saying, right now life’s great…I have an amazing wife who I have great sex with and I have a sister who feeds me” Derek explained.

Mark smirked as he shook his head, “you know what would be even better, if you had a wife who gave you great sex and knew how to cook” Mark teased.

“Hey I ain’t looking for any miracles buddy” Derek joked; the day Meredith learnt how t cook would be the day that Derek retired from the O.R.

“Hey” Owen called out as he walked into the living room and sat down in the arm chair.

“Meredith and Derek don’t live here anymore, so why are you people still treating this place like grand central station?” Mark asked teasingly. Since their wedding Mark, Derek and Owen had become really good friends. It was to the point where Mark and Derek were just as protective over Owen as they were with each other.

“Hey Owen” Lexie greeted the trauma surgeon with a smile, at first Lexie had felt awkward referring to Owen by his first name but Cristina took care of that. She had warned Lexie, telling her that if she didn’t knock it off with the Dr. Hunt thing then she’d be in charge of all rectal exams.

“Hey Lexie” Owen answered back as he eyed the food which Lexie was passing over to Derek.

Derek sighed in contentment as he took a sniff of the food from the hot bowl, “you had chicken curry and didn’t tell me” Derek scolded Mark before taking a bite.

Mark rolled his eyes as he shook his head, “jeez Derek I’m sorry that feeding you wasn’t on the top of my list of priorities” Mark teased.

“Owen would you like some?” Lexie asked, trying to ignore the little childish act going on between Mark and Derek.

“No thank you Lexie” Owen answered Lexie with a smile.

Derek had leaned forward and was about to take a bit from the food on his fork when he felt Mark jab him in his side, “why can’t you be like Hunt?” Mark asked.

Derek frowned as he looked back and forth between Mark and Owen, “like what?” Derek asked.

“Like a friend who doesn’t actually cost me money, a friend who isn’t trying to eat and drink me out of a home” Mark joked.

“Actually Lexie I could really go for a beer” Owen spoke up with a faint smile on his face.

“Looks like you spoke too soon” Derek informed Mark with a smug grin on his face before taking another bite of his food.

Mark and Derek’s bantering was interrupted by the sudden sound of a crying baby coming through the baby monitor, “Mark can you can grab Owen a beer while I go and check on the girls” Lexie asked with a sweet smile.

“He knows where the fridge is, he can get one himself” Mark argued as he emphasised with his hand that he was far too comfortable on the couch to move.

Lexie shook her head refusing to say anything; instead she turned on her heel and began to walk towards the stairs.

“Hey Lexie make sure you tell them that their favourite uncle’s here” Derek called out with a smile.

“Yeah, they’ll be excited to hear that Owen’s here” Mark cried out over Derek’s voice.

Lexie let out a small giggle as she climbed the stairs and left the men to their male bonding time.

“Why do you have to be so mean” Derek asked with a grin on his face.

“Because I now live in a house with three girls, I can’t be mean to them so I have to take it out on someone” Mark joked.

“Why don’t you take it out on Owen” Derek asked with a curious look on his face.

Mark couldn’t help but scoff as he got up from the couch, “because his army and I ain’t dumb enough to mess with a trained killer”.

“Uh excuse me” Owen called out as he held a finger up, “I was a trained medic not an actual soldier” Owen jumped in.

Mark and Derek looked at each other before looking back at Owen, “who asked you?” Mark teased before going to get Owen his beer.

“Hey get me one to” Derek called out before taking the last bite of his food, but Derek had to stop himself from choking when he saw the small blue velvet box Owen placed on the coffee table.

“You need to stop treating this place like a hotel…” Mark was saying as he walked into the living room holding three beers, but he immediately paused as soon as he spotted what Derek had been looking at.

“What the hell is that?” Mark asked as he passed Owen his beer and held one out to Derek; Derek was still too shocked by the little blue box so Mark had to nudge Derek on the shoulder to get him to snap out of it.

Derek shook his head before taking the beer and he took a very long swig of it, he still remembered as plain as day the last time Cristina Yang had been a part of the whole wedding scene.

Mark sat down and looked at the little blue box intensely with a terrified look on is face; Owen hadn’t made any suggestions that he was ready to take this sort of step with Cristina. But that wasn’t the part that scared him, “does he know about the other thing?” Mark asked Derek as he looked back and forth between Owen and the box out of the corner of his eye.

Derek opened his mouth and was about to say something when Owen jumped in, “I know about Burke” Owen reassured Mark.

“Yeah and did you notice how the whole diamond ring scenario didn’t work out for him” Mark asked with a sympathetic smile. He knew that Owen was the marrying and settling down kind of guy, but he just wasn’t so sure about Cristina.

“It’s not a ring” Owen answered smugly.

“Then what is it” Derek asked with a frown as he picked up the velvet box and turned it around in his hand, examining the box like it had the cure to cancer.

“It’s a medal” Owen answered simply.

“A medal” Mark repeated with a disbelieving look on his face.

“It’s the medal that was awarded to me for honourable conduct under heavy fire before I was discharged from the Army” Owen explained sheepishly.

“And you want to use this” Derek asked while waving the box around, “to ask Yang to marry you?”

Owen eagerly nodded his head, “I see the way that you two have built these lives with Meredith and Lexie and I want that. So I’m hoping that if I give this to Cristina then I’m showing to her that I want to move forward…that while I still have a long way to go before I can ever really let go of Iraq I’m willing to try if it means building a future with her” Owen explained.

He sighed in relief as he let that all out because Mark and Derek were the first ones he had ever admitted all of this to.

“Guess you’ll never know till you ask” Derek told him as he tossed Owen the blue box.

Mark shook his head in disbelief, “you’re an idiot” Mark told Derek before turning his head to Owen. “You can’t just go up to Yang and ask her to marry you without any kind of warning” Mark told Owen.

“Why not” Owen asked Mark with a frown.

“Ok you weren’t here during the whole Meredith and Derek drama, but when Derek first asked Meredith to move in with him she freaked…I mean freaked to the point where the two of them broke up…”

“But that’s ancient history” Derek jumped in while trying to figure out where the hell Mark was going with this.

“That may be so” Mark answered, “but Yang and Meredith are the same. The two of them don’t deal well with surprises let alone with happy surprises. If you just throw this on her she’ll freak” Mark explained. He wasn’t trying to deter Owen or convince him that he wasn’t going to have the life he wants; Mark was just trying to give Owen some advice.

“He’s right” Derek declared, he couldn’t believe that with his first hand experience of Meredith that Mark was giving Owen better advice at dealing with Cristina.

“So what do you suggest then” Owen asked Mark with an appreciative look on his face for all the help he could get.

Mark shook his head with a smile, “a trauma surgeon and a neurosurgeon need me to tell them how to succeed in their love lives…oh how the mighty have fallen” Mark declared with a smug smile.

“Just tell him already” Derek ordered while trying not to smile at Mark.

Mark sighed, “look it’s not rocket science…Derek’s wife just ‘happens’ to be Yang’s person. So just ask Meredith to throw around a few ideas in front of Cristina, you know mention the subject and see what Yang’s reaction to it is” Mark suggested.

“Hey that’s not bad” Owen told him with an excited look on his face, having Meredith do a bit of digging for him would be better than making himself look like an idiot.

“What’s not a bad idea” Lexie asked as she walked into the living and stood beside Mark.

“Owen here wants to ask Yang to marry him and have some of their own little Hunt’s” Mark explained with a sweet smile on his face.

“Tactfulness isn’t one of your strong suits is it?” Owen asked as he shook his head in disbelief at Mark and the way he just announced Owen’s intentions.

Mark smirked as he wrapped an arm around Lexie’s waist and pulled her down on to his lap, Lexie let out a little squeal as she felt herself falling down. Mark looked back and forth between Derek and Owen, “please raise your hand if you’re happily married and have two beautiful baby girls currently sleeping?” Mark asked with a smile.

Derek and Owen both shook their heads while trying not to grin at the idiot that they both considered being one of their best friends.

“What do you know I guess I’m the only one” Mark announced smugly before looking at Owen, “I can really see how my lack of tactfulness has really been my downfall” Mark announced with a cheesy grin.

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