S7 EP19
SOFIA ROBBIN LAWRENCE TORRES
1 WEEK, 1 LB, 1 OZ
NORAH SKIPPED INTO Callie's patient room with Mark tagging along behind her. "Morning, Callie. Baby report!" she announced and waved her phone in the air.
"Oh, gimme, gimme, gimme-!"
"She's moving her arm like she's waving," Norah pointed out as the video played on her phone. The sound of Timothy's delighted squeals could be heard throughout the video, followed by his cooing voice. "She still hasn't opened her eyes, but she only stopped breathing once last night."
"And get this..." Mark prefaced, and Callie took her eyes off the phone screen momentarily. "Her brain bleed's still grade one."
She gasped and stared back at the paused video with an awestricken look striking on her face. "Good girl! She looks bigger," she chimed with the broadest grin on her face, before furrowing her brows, "Is she bigger?"
Bailey chuckled lightly, shaking her head. "Alright. Some of us are still working," she stated before moving the couple away from the room.
Cristina quirked a brow at the brunette as her eyes drifted down to the latter's stomach. A smirk played on her mouth knowingly when Norah gave her a quick high-five before darting out of the room. She shook her head at the other's uplifted mood.
Cristina always knows.
When they left the room, Mark stole a kiss before planting a few on her neck. "Hey, did you know that I'm your niece's godfather?" he asked excitedly, and she shook her head at him, bringing his face to the front. "Wanna get some coffee?"
Yes, I want to, so badly, but I can't.
"I already chugged one this morning, and I have trial patients to get to," Norah replied instead, which, of course, was not true. She did swear to herself to reduce her caffeine intake... depending on how long that pledge was to last.
"Hm... Alright, then. I love you!"
"I love you more."
Mark took a few steps in the other direction before turning back, quickening his pace back to her side. "You're Sofia's aunt, and I'm godfather!" he spoke as if it was new information to him, "How great is that?!"
Norah snorted, shaking her head at his radiant self, beaming from ear to ear. A part of her melted at the sight of him.
Ah, just wait, love, just wait.
❦ ❦ ❦
IT WAS YET ANOTHER day of the Alzheimer's clinical trial, which meant another day of hope and despair, yet Norah felt more uplifted than usual.
She was in a better mood than when she was on antidepressants-which she had almost cut off her entire usage after agreeing to attend extra therapy sessions instead; her psychiatrist was definitely not pleased with her announcement.
"Pulse is 102," Norah notified the odd rise in the patient's heart rate.
Derek narrowed his eyes before moving to the patient. "Are you nervous, Ed?"
"Yeah, it's kinda like going to the dentist, only worse," the patient replied with a small cackle.
"Well, this is gonna be over before you even know it starts," Derek reassured him with a nod. The nurse entered the OR with the sealed packet in her hand, ready for further instructions. "Dr Grey is gonna do the drill now. You're not gonna feel anything, though."
As Meredith started drilling into the patient's skull, he grunted and squirmed on the bed with his head still held in place. The monitors started beeping rapidly, and his heart rate was slowly rising; the surgeons and anesthesiologist were confused.
"Ed, try and relax, okay?" Norah tried, but the patient continued struggling on the table.
"Alright, stop, stop. Just pull back," Derek instructed Meredith. S she did as told, pulling the drill away, and the whirring sound faded. "Let's get the halo off. He's having an MI."
The pairs of hands were quick to move into action, trying to get the metal out of the patient's head-but they were too late.
"Flatline..." Norah declared just as the monitor rang a constant beep. Derek immediately started CPR, and she covered the ambu bag over the patient's face; the nurses were already pushing in a crash cart.
Norah was beyond puzzled.
And she felt sick.
❦ ❦ ❦
"HIS EKG WAS FINE?" Webber questioned just as the now-deceased patient was being wheeled off to the morgue.
"He never complained of any chest pain," Norah responded, and Meredith nodded in agreement. "We did the workup, and there was nothing in his history that could suggest that to happen."
"It wasn't any of your faults," Derek told the residents before turning back to the chief, "It was a massive MI. After we inform Mr Beckert's family, I will call the FDA and file a formal report."
"Is there a chance they could shut down the trial?" Meredith queried.
"Oh, it doesn't matter," Derek stated with his arms folded, "I'm gonna shut it down, pending the autopsy."
The residents snapped their heads to him with widened eyes. Norah exhaled heavily, shaking her head. His decision was sensible and probably expected, but it still bothered her nonetheless.
Meredith had volunteered to take the sealed pack back to the office while Norah headed to the NICU.
❦ ❦ ❦
THE APARTMENT WAS rather quiet that night.
Norah was flipping through some medical journals distractedly. She was trying to brush up on her knowledge about Alzheimer's, but her mind was occupied elsewhere.
Her thoughts went still when Mark walked out of their room, shrugging on a t-shirt. "What? Your boyfriend's too hot?" he teased, and she rolled her eyes at him.
She raised a brow curiously while he walked over to the kitchen and opened the cabinets above him. "Wine or whisky?" he asked, and she stared back at him blankly.
"Neither...?"
"Oh, come on. We're stocked with alcohol, and you're drinking juice. That's just wrong," he squinted, "Wine? Or the hard stuff? I think we have some tequila somewhere..."
"Thanks, but I'll stick to my apple juice," she continued sipping from the straw while he took down two empty glasses from the cabinet.
He sent her a disapproving look. "That thing's loaded with sugar."
"That thing's loaded with alcohol," she narrowed her eyes at him before admitting, "I can't drink, Mark."
He had the most perplexed look ever on his face, which made her mentally facepalmed. Clearly, he was a total idiot when it came to taking hints.
My total idiot, though.
She burst out a cackle when he stalked towards her; his eyebrows were knitted so closely with a serious look on his face. He sat her juice box aside and lifted her onto the countertop.
"Who are you, and what have you done to my Laurie?"
The unfaltering smile on her face made him even more puzzled than before. She hooked two fingers into the hem of his sweatpants and towed him closer to her, her arms resting on his shoulders, crossing behind his neck.
She was staring at his lips, this time, and that he took the hint of. Confused yet enticed, he dipped his head down and caught her lips.
His hand that was travelling to cup her cheeks was stopped by her grabbing his wrist. She redirected his hand lower-slowly and nervously-until his palm rested above her stomach.
It took him ten seconds to finally understand what she was hinting at-yes, she counted.
Jerking apart from the kiss, his eyes lowered down to his hand, then back up, meeting her eyes-several times. His eyes widened twice their size, and his mouth gaped open, but other than little gasps of breaths, no words came out of it.
"Mark, love, you mind saying something...?"
"Y-You're pregnant?" His voice came out in a tiny whisper, and she could hear the faint squeal of astonishment behind it.
"Eight weeks," she confirmed with a single firm nod.
In another long moment of silence, the pair of blue eyes darted up and down, between his hand and her eyes. She furrowed her brows at him, "I-I know that things were rough between us for a while... but are you in for this?"
"Are you?" he asked instead; she noticed the slight uncertainty under his excited voice. "I mean, this is totally unplanned, and if you're not ready, I-I get it; if you are..." his mouth curved up a little as he held both sides on her face, "I'll be by your side no matter what you decide, I'm in for all. So...?"
"I'm in, of course, I'm all in," she stated surely and watched his eyes glow. The grins on their faces were incomparable.
"We're having a baby!"
He ended up wrapping his arms around her, squeezing her into a tight hug as he buried his face at her neck; she narrowed her eyes.
"Mark Sloan... I am the one with hormones-please tell me you're not crying!" she demanded. He coughed out a laugh, shaking his head in response.
"A baby..." He lifted his head and loosened the hug; she swore she could see the vague glister in his eyes. "Our baby!"
His hand landed back on her tummy; even though he knew there was not a bump yet, his mouth still settled into an 'O' shape while he stared in awe.
"I'm gonna be a Dad, and you're gonna be a Mom," he gasped, "Should we get married?"
"Whoa, whoa-you already got me knocked up before I finished my residency," she snapped at him with an unamused look on her face, "You should be thanking me for not headlining tomorrow's news."
"Aye, aye," he grinned and headed back to the cabinet to take out two wine glasses.
"What are you doing?" she queried while he poured the remaining of her juice into one of the glasses, and cracked open a bottle of wine and poured it into another glass.
"Since you can't drink, you'll have your apple juice in a wine glass," he stated and passed her the glass, in which she refrained from laughing out. "Because this," he placed his hand on her stomach again, "deserves a toast."
They clinked their glasses and sipped on their drinks. Norah chuckled while staring at his serotonin-pumped self. He looked like a five-year-old who had just gotten his favourite toy for his birthday, close to exploding with joy.
"Oh no, I'm gonna have two kids instead of one," she groaned.
Mark gulped down his sip of wine and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! I hope they're twins!" he exclaimed before stammering when he got returned with her eyes widening in terror. "O-Or not...?"
"Kids terrify me, mind I remind you."
"Yet there's one growing in your uterus right now. Holy crap-our baby is growing inside of you!"
"Yeah... That's how it works...?"
He set his glass aside and bent down, poking her stomach gently. She would have slapped him if it weren't for his adorable reaction and his eyes that were practically glowing like stars.
He leaned closer to the fabric of her shirt and spoke in a whisper, "H-Hey, little one... I'm your Dad, a-and you're my kid... Oh my god."
❦ ❦ ❦
2 DAYS LATER
NORAH WALKED INTO THE residents' locker room after she had ended her shift. The residents were changing into their day clothes while chatting with each other-just the group of people she wanted to see.
She took a deep breath before clearing her throat loudly, gaining everyone's attention. "Uh... look, I have no idea how to announce this, but um..."
She slowly reached into the pocket of her white coat, pulling out the ultrasound image that she got that morning. The residents' eyes widened, and some of their jaws dropped.
"Oh my god?" April and Lexie exclaimed in unison. "You're pregnant?!" the latter's eyes were wide, staring at her in shock and disbelief.
"Yeah... I got a being growing in my uterus, and uh-woah."
Her words got cut off by Timothy, who lunged towards her and engulfed her in a huge hug; words of congratulations filled the room. "I was wondering when you were gonna fucking tell me that I'm an uncle," he spoke, and she raised a brow at him.
"You knew? How...?"
"Something for you to wonder, huh?" he smirked. He reached into her pocket and grabbed another copy of the ultrasound picture. "Hey, Nor-our kids are gonna grow up together!"
Both the siblings' eyes widened in excitement.
"Damn... Sloan impregnated you in your fourth year of residency?" Jackson raised a brow at her, and she returned him with a shrug and a smile.
Alex let out a whistle. "Guess someone's out for the Chief Resident race," he smirked, and Timothy threw a pen at him before Norah could do so.
"Oh, please, Norah could still kick your ass even if she's carrying an embryo inside of her," Cristina snorted at Alex as she walked up to the pregnant resident. "Congratulations... on finally telling us."
"Hold on... How many of you guys already knew?" Norah questioned. Her eyes widened a little when she saw four hands raised in the air-Timothy, Cristina, Meredith, and Alex.
"Your boobs got huge over the past weeks," Meredith explained, "And you're eating doubles during lunch... and dinner... and the frequent snack breaks in between."
"I work with Peds, I just... know," Alex smiled back.
Norah tried not to be impressed, but she felt that her facial expression had given her away. Timothy lifted the picture in front of his chest and turned his head to his sister.
"Baby Sloan," he blurted out in a high-pitched voice that made her grin, "Oh, hey, it looks like a little bean!"
❦
MARK RUBBED HIS JAW tensely as he stopped in front of the attendings' lounge. The attendings inside were all sprawled out, having coffee, chit-chatting, reading, or napping.
A nervous grin plastered on his face; a mixed feeling of thrill and anxiety overwhelmed him.
He let out a grunt when he got a kick on the back of his ankle. Hissing in pain, he turned around to see Bailey standing behind him with her hands on her hips, staring at him with a deadpan look.
"Oh," he gasped, "She told you already?"
Bailey crossed her arms in front of her chest, staring back at him unamusingly. He seemed to have shrunk a little when he studied the bitter look on her face.
"Well, um... C-Can you at least try to look happy?" he asked with an awkward laugh, "I-I mean, that's my kid, and-"
"What the hell are you talking about?" the shorter attending snapped at him, shutting him up instantly. He furrowed his brows confusingly and slowly lifted the picture in his hand to her face.
"I-" Bailey squinted at the ultrasound picture before looking back at him in disbelief; he did not favour that look. "You-knocked-up-my-fav-"
"Ow, ow, ow-!"
Mark finally staggered into the lounge where the other attendings eyed him and Bailey, puzzled, while the latter tackled him with smacks and punches. He was shielding his head while the smaller attending hit him with a furious look on her face.
"Ow, okay, that hurts-Bailey, stop-ouch!"
"I was asking you not to block the damn doors," she yelped, "And you-you knocked up my resident?!"
"You what?" The attendings caught Bailey's shouting words and were all in shock while Mark suffered under her fists.
"Is she referring to Norah, or did you..." Derek trailed off when Mark shot him a stern look. "Right-Wait, Norah's pregnant?"
Mark managed to pass him the ultrasound picture, and the attendings gathered around to look at it.
"Whoa, she is pregnant," he announced enthusiastically, "Hey, Bailey-Bailey, stop. You don't wanna beat up the father of an unborn child. You can do it afterwards-"
He had managed to pry her away from Mark, who had sweat beading up his forehead. "Geez, how does such a small body have such big strength," he muttered under his breath and earned a glare from Bailey.
Derek was grinning at Mark with his arms wide, and the former gave the father-to-be a great hug. "Congratulations!"
"Thanks, man," Mark grinned, "Hey, um... I know you and Grey had been..." Derek cut him off before he could finish his sentence, and the both of them shared a laugh.
"How far along is she?" Arizona asked while walking towards him to take a look at the picture.
"Eight weeks," Mark announced proudly, holding it in front of him. The one tiny little bean in the image was enough to pull his smile from one ear to another.
"Oh, wait till Callie hears this!" the blonde attending sprinted off immediately.
Hugs and wishes passed along the attendings' lounge, and the grin on Mark's face older grew wider. He stared at the picture once again, feeling all the pride and wonder swelling in his chest.
The tiny figure in the picture was his child-their little child. He let out a deep exhale, as though the knowledge had finally sunk in. "I'm a Dad."
❦ ❦ ❦
3 WEEKS LATER
MARK HELD HER HAIR back while Norah retched into the toilet bowl, a string or curse and swears following her expel of contents.
He stifled back a yawn with his mouth clamped shut-the last time he yawned out while she was throwing her guts out, he got snapped at, horribly.
"Morning sickness should be called all-day sickness," Norah grumbled when she finally got up on her feet. "And you should be grateful that I love you."
"I know, I am, and I love you more," he returned her crankiness with a sleepy smile, rubbing her back soothingly as she rinsed her mouth. "You know, I was thinking, I can clear out our stuff in the spare room and turn it into a nursery."
She stood in front of the sink for a moment, staring at her reflection in the mirror.
"Bad idea?" he asked, his brows furrowed at her silence.
"Sounds brilliant, but... Do we have potato chips?"
He squinted at her request. "I... think you had the last bag two days ago-" She gritted her teeth as she narrowed her eyes at him. "But I'll head to the 24-hour store now, if you want some?"
She shook her head. "You can get them tomorrow, please don't get ranch... We still have ice cream, yeah?"
"Norah, it's four a.m."
"Your kid wants ice cream."
He caved, already walking towards the kitchen. She brushed her teeth and gargled her mouth, before slipping on the soft slippers and making her way to the kitchen.
She sat down on the couch, and he handed her the bowl of Neapolitan ice cream topped with Froot Loops. He was starting to doze off next to her since he had his shift until midnight.
She moved his head gently to her lap for him to lie on. Hugging the blue throw pillow in his chest, he placed a soft kiss on her stomach as his eyes fluttered shut. "Night, little one."
❦ ❦ ❦
1 WEEK LATER
NORAH SAT ON THE GURNEY next to Cristina, who was focusing on her charts. Callie was pushing the both of them, her face sweating. It had been five weeks since the accident and her injuries had been slowly healing, now working on building back her physical strength.
"Sofia waved at me today," Norah lifted her head to the woman who was panting while she munched on the bag of chips in her hand. "It was a small, tiny wave, absolutely adorable. Chips?"
"Not helping, Norah," Callie deadpanned, and the resident shrugged.
"You know, its small features and oversized eyes trigger a hormonal response in humans," Cristina spoke up bitterly, "It's autonomic. It's what keeps us from eating them."
She stared at the brunette, who looked horrified before placing a reassuring hand on her back. "Don't worry, sweetheart. This fetus is too Sloan-y to eat."
"You're terrible, Cristina, really horrible," Norah shook her head before lifting her head to Callie, who was snickering at the other resident's words. "How'd you get her to be Sofia's godmother?"
"No idea."
"Ready to head back?" Cristina asked Callie.
"One more lap," the latter insisted and continued pushing the gurney for another lap around the floor. The three surgeons met Meredith at the nurses' station, who narrowed her eyes at them curiously.
"What, did you two lose a bet?" she questioned and followed next to them. She reached her hand into the bag of chips and pulled out a handful of them, putting them into her mouth.
"They're my new physical therapists because they do what I tell them to," Callie explained.
"And the Sloan Offspring is a tag-along," Cristina added with a shrug, and Norah frowned at the nickname.
"Whose charts are those?"
"Altman's," Cristina grumbled, "She's being ridiculous. I haven't seen a cardio surgery in a month. Hence I stole her charts, so I will be prepared when she comes crawling back."
"Grey, sit. I need the resistance," Callie spoke.
Norah pulled her legs back to herself to allow another space on the gurney, and Meredith hopped on. "Oh, so we retested Adele Webber," the latter mentioned, "She's worse than we thought."
"Yeah, she's declining too fast," Norah nodded, "Well, upside is she's gonna get in the trial, I guess... Chips?"
Cristina flipped on her clipboard, and her eyes widened, completely drowning away the words of the two other residents next to her. "Okay, see?! See, I should be on this!" she exclaimed, tapping her pen on the surgery in the chart viciously, "How do I even have a shot at Chief Resident if I can't do what I'm good at?"
"You don't," Norah smirked, "That's one less competitor for us."
Cristina shot her a glare before smacking the chart over her head; the brunette grunted in pain while Meredith laughed at their childish antics.
Norah lifted her head back to Callie behind them. "Sofia held my hand, too, you know? She's strong."
"I hate you," Callie grumbled at the resident's smirk.
"Alex, you didn't-you're gonna be fired!" They heard Lexie's voice booming from down the hallways when they made a turn at the corner.
"I'm gonna be Chief Resident," Alex corrected, with his chest high and his hands crossed on his hips.
"Yeah, not if you don't work here anymore."
"Beep-beep!" Norah imitated the sound of a car honk, causing the disbelief-looking Lexie and the proud-looking Alex to step back, allowing the gurney to pass through.
"He solicited a patient for money," Lexie exposed, and the residents on the gurney turned their heads to Alex.
"Oh, you hookin' now?"
"No, it's for my African kid thing," Alex insisted.
"It's against so many rules!" Lexie exclaimed.
"Who cares?" he groaned, "The old hag could die, leaving her money to save dying children. But instead, she'll probably leave it to her cats-who probably hate her, too." He shook his head and placed his folder on the edge of the gurney. "Hey, Norah, your dad's a millionaire, right?"
"Are you asking a pregnant woman for money?" Cristina retorted, "Back off, Evil Spawn."
"Hm... Who's that again?" Norah played dumb, and he grumbled in frustration while the other residents snickered. "Relax, Alex, you'll think of something," she shrugged, "Though, I vote for soliciting the cash from your dragon lady."
Meredith and Callie snorted; Lexie let out a sharp scoff while Alex grinned back at her smugly. Norah passed her bag of chips to the younger resident, who started stress eating while they walked along with the gurney.
❦ ❦ ❦
4 WEEKS LATER
NORAH WAS SITTING BY the nurses' station, updating a chart. Ever since her baby bump started to show, the nurses had been buzzing along with exciting words and congratulations.
"How's my little bean?" Timothy asked as he passed a container of homemade breakfast over the counter; Norah's eyes widened in joy. He leaned over, his finger ready to poke, but his sister smacked his hand away.
"Hands to yourself, Uncle Timmy."
"Ouch-does pregnancy hormones includes extra-painful slaps?" he hissed.
She shrugged, plopping a grape into her mouth. "Your niece or nephew is doing brilliantly." She passed him the newest ultrasound picture that she had gotten that morning and grinned. "How's Sofia?"
"She smiled at me," Timothy announced with an awestricken look on his face, "And she opened her eyes when I sat down next to her. I think she knows when her papa's there."
She poked the food in the container with a frown on her face. "You know I hate baked beans?"
"Yup, I know. But, well, your kid might love it. Who knows?"
Derek hurried over with a new stack of charts in his head. "Oh, hey, wow-more breakfast. I'm jealous," he chuckled. Norah offered him a grape, but the attending refused it after receiving the heated stare from her brother. "Have you seen Mark?"
"He's out cold in an on-call room," she informed; her face crumpled after chewing the baked beans. Timothy sent her a sour look, but his eyes were scolding her to finish it.
"What have you done to him?"
"Oh, no-it's what had he done to himself," Norah corrected, her hand placed over her stomach, "Let's just say he spent the evening cleaning the spare room in our apartment, then I swear he was up all night talking to this little one."
Derek snorted and nodded. "Yeah, definitely sounds like Mark." He clicked his pen before handing the chart to the resident, watching her eyes glow in delight. "See you in surgery."
Norah stood up in pure excitement, carefully trying to sneak the baked beans away-
"Honorah Arielle Lawrence!" Timothy howled; her eyes widened at him yelling her name in full. "My little bean needs protein and fibre, so you better eat up-right now!"
She blinked at him before scooping another spoonful to her mouth. "Timothy, you're my worst brother."
"I'm your only brother, and you love me."
She groaned, rolling her eyes while muttering under her breath, "How the hell did Callie keep up with this..."
❦ ❦ ❦
3 WEEKS LATER
NORAH HAD JUST ARRIVED at the lobby with her first cup of coffee for the week, slowly sipping on it like it was sacred wine for her to savour.
"Hey, Human Incubator," Cristina greeted, and Norah sighed at the nickname. "How's your Sloan Offspring?"
"Doing great."
Alex walked up to them, carrying several files in his hands. Jackson narrowed his eyes when a file got thrust to him. "What's this?"
"What's this?" Alex scoffed at his question, "It's your kid. Your African kid."
"Oh, that's happening?"
"Today?"
"Tonight! The first group gets here tonight-I've been telling you this all week!" Alex deadpanned, looking at the residents seriously, "Look, each of you gets your own kid. Some of them will be travelling with family, a few of them are orphans, so you are in charge of your kid, right? You're like their... their ambassador."
He was about to pass one of the files to Cristina but quickly retracted his hand. "Wait, no. You can't have her. Norah can have her." The file got passed onto the brunette, who furrowed her brows at him, who looked beyond stressful.
"He's melting down," Lexie taunted.
"Train wreck," Jackson nodded with a smirk.
"Evil Spawn is now Mother Teresa."
"Don't forget, they get here tonight!" Alex yelled out when the residents started to disperse.
"I think it's a brilliant job, really," Norah spoke up, causing him to raise a brow curiously back at her. "Oh, you be thankful that I'm in a good mood today. My pregnancy hormones can shove you down a train."
His eyes widened at her sudden change in tone, and he nodded quietly with a mustered smile before hurrying away.
She sat down on the chair and opened her file, starting to read through her assigned case while resuming in savouring her caffeine.
Spina bifida? That's new.
❦ ❦ ❦
NORAH STOOD NEXT TO Derek in the OR with Adele Webber lying awake. After one of their previous patients dropped out of the clinical trial, the space had gotten replaced by the chief's wife.
It was a fortunate decision, but her deteriorating memory was a great concern to the surgeons.
"Okay, Adele, I need you to take a couple of deep breaths for me, okay?" Derek addressed as he powered up the drill. The drill whirred through Adele's skull while Norah irrigated the area following the attending's procedure.
A nurse entered the OR with the sealed packet and waited next to the resident; Meredith eyed the nurse cautiously.
After Derek had done drilling, Norah set her apparatus aside and reached into the folder, carefully pulling out the contents. Her heart was beating fast, hoping and hoping that Adele would get a chance-
This patient has been delegated to receive: ACTIVE AGENT
Norah shared a glad look with Derek, both of them grinning under their masks. What they both did not notice, was the nervous smile coming from Meredith as she hid a guilty look.
"Okay, I'm gonna make the injection," Derek informed and took the syringe out of the pack, "And, uh, you shouldn't feel this." The active agent was slowly pressed into Adele's head, and everyone in the OR relaxed instantly.
Everyone... except for one.
❦ ❦ ❦
THE GROUP OF SURGEONS gathered in the NICU, staring at the timer while Sofia was getting timed for her infant carrier test. She was finally healthy and big, ready to be discharged and brought home.
"Five, four, three, two, one-that's one hour!"
Everyone clapped and cheered at the infant, who tilted her head back at the adults. "You did it, big girl!" Arizona grinned proudly while Timothy went to buckle their daughter up.
Norah and Mark helped to pack the baby's things into a bag. She found him staring at her-well, not her, but the bump on her stomach-with a large grin on his face.
"Dumbstruck fool," she murmured.
He chuckled and stole a kiss. "Your lovestruck idiot."
"Okay, let's roll."
"Wait, wait, wait, wait-put her down," Callie interjected with a worried look on her face.
"I have got the apnea monitor, the O2..." Arizona spoke, "Oh, Callie, you need to steal some of those NICU blankets, they're the best-"
"Okay, everybody, stop, stop, stop, stop!" Callie raised her voice suddenly, causing everyone to pause on what they were doing.
Timothy gently lowered the carrier back on the table while Norah stood back straight up; Mark rubbed small circles at the soreness on her back.
"She's not ready. No, she can't leave. S-She's been watched by doctors 24 hours a day-"
"She still will."
"-okay, well, her lungs. She could get RSV."
"Well, any kid could get RSV," Arizona reasoned, confused.
"She's not getting in a car! It's not safe!" Callie bellowed; her voice that started to get shaky made Norah feel a sting to her nose. "It's not safe-the last time she was in a car, she nearly died! We both nearly died! G-Get her outta that thing! Give her to me, Tim, I'm not kidding-get her out of that thing!"
"No, no, no-don't... cry." Norah lifted her head to the ceiling while her tears threatened to fall. A string of silent curses flowed out of her mouth; Mark walked over to her with a small laugh.
He moved them to the side of the NICU where Callie's sobs would be the softest, and she buried her face at the side of his shoulder. He rubbed her back gently when she grumbled in frustration.
Owen raised a brow at him, and the plastic surgeon mouthed back two words: 'Pregnancy hormones'-before grimacing when a fist pounded on his chest.
"I hate you," she mumbled before striking his chest again.
"Nah, you don't, and I lov-ow!" he hissed in pain when she struck him the third time. "S-Since when do hormones affect physical strength?"
She mumbled something that he could not piece out as they listened to Bailey's words to Callie in the background.
"Say hi to your Aunt Nor," Timothy whispered to Sofia as he walked over to them, passing the little girl to her aunt. He placed a soft kiss on his daughter's head before going back to pack the baby bags.
Norah watched as Sofia cooed on her shoulder, her tiny hand reaching up to her nose. Mark was laughing at the look on her face when the baby gurgled with a small squeal that made her brows furrow.
"Kids don't terrify me, actually, but babies often do-aww, she's so cute," she melted at the sight, "Look at her, Mark."
His smile softened, not at the baby, but at the way Norah was looking at Sofia despite her claim of fright. It was motherly.
"We're gonna make good parents, right?" her voice was small and unsure this time, "I mean... I didn't have good parents as an example..."
"I didn't either. And that's why we'll never let our kid grow up the way we did. They'll grow up knowing what love is, because we're gonna show them that," he reassured, "We'll be amazing parents, Norah. The best."
"Promise?"
"Promise, and-" he lowered his head, pecking a kiss on her lips, "-sealed."
A grin grew on his face, which made her raise a brow at him curiously. "Aw, look," he nudged his head to the baby in her arms, "Sofia's asleep."
"She's what-" she widened her eyes at the baby whose drool was on her shoulder, "Mark, help-"