BAILEY STRODE DOWN THE hallway until she reached the two attendings who were chitchatting at the nurses' station. With a slight tiptoe and a swift contraction of the muscles on her wrist, she landed a smack on the back of the plastic attending's head.
Mark ducked his head down a little as he hissed in pain, turning to the impassive face behind him; Derek snorted a laugh next to him.
"Do you know that your pregnant girlfriend is in this hospital?" she questioned.
"Yeah, she had a session with her therapist this morning," he stated and lifted his phone in the air, "She's got a long rant here. Her exact words are 'I think she's gonna shove antidepressants down my throat, because-'."
Bailey cut him off before he could finish reading the text messages. "Let me rephrase my question. Do you know that your very pregnant girlfriend is teaching a skills lab in this hospital?" she asked again, "Teaching those idiot interns who couldn't even get through the vocal cords while intubating a patient?"
Derek turned his head interestedly to Mark, who nodded, causing the female attending to scoff at him. "She likes teaching, and she refuses to stay in bed. Believe me, I tried, but she insisted that she does not need bed rest... and I tend to lose all arguments with her."
Bailey still had an unamused look on her face with her hands on her hips, staring at the plastic surgeon pointedly. "Norah was her second favourite intern," Derek muttered to the plastic surgeon, "After O'Malley."
"And the new interns are a pain in the ass," Bailey added.
"Really? She told me they're good," Mark recalled. "The interns love her."
Derek laughed, "I think she's the best teacher in this hospital. No offense, Bailey, but the interns do love her."
He passed the chart back to the nurse and placed his pen back into his white coat. "Oh, have you seen the paper she published last week? I got a call from Stanford saying they wanna meet with her."
Bailey, who had been staring daggers at Mark, had wiped off the unpleasant look on her face and replaced it with a proud one.
"She's striving without even stepping in an OR," Derek pointed out, "She's better than all of us. Well, maybe not me," -Mark and Bailey glared at the neurosurgeon- "but she's a genius."
Mark grinned to himself, with three words on his mind.
❦ ❦ ❦
MARK STEPPED INTO THE skills lab where Norah was working on her laptop.
The words on the screen constantly increased and decreased, then increased again. The brunette let out a huff and leaned back against the chair, then immediately jolted back and started clicking away on the keyboard.
He finally snorted when she slammed on the backspace repeatedly; his presence made her glance over to him with an unamused look. "Hungry?" he asked, walking up to her before passing a container of lunch prepared by Timothy.
She sighed, pushing herself away from the table and turned to face him. "I hate being fifth year."
"Well, on the bright side, you're starting your fellowship next year," he reminded. "Navy scrubs."
"Navy scrubs..." she repeated his words with a corner of her mouth turned up. "Wow... Remember when you were flirting with me shamelessly during my intern year?"
"Remember when your dumbass just wouldn't give in to your feelings?" he chuckled at the recollection of what seemed like forever ago. "Now, look at us," he grinned, his hand on her stomach, "All three of us."
She grinned at his words before plopping a grape into his mouth. He frowned with his arms folded. "How does Tim get the sweetest grapes, and I always get the sour ones?"
"That's something you gotta ask him," she stated. "And you better ask him. I hate sour grapes."
"Your brother's a great dad, and he's humiliating me," Mark muttered before lowering his head to her stomach. "Hey, little one, your Uncle Tim is feeding you too well, and your Dad can't compete with him," he spoke before yelping, "And your Mom is hitting me with a container cover. But we love you, so, very much."
She smiled at the sight, just as she always did whenever he talked to their child in that caring and gentle voice. Some nights, he would stay up all night sharing his day while she dozed off to sleep; his voice was soothing and safe.
What she did not know were the nights he would be up watching her, just watching her.
After a tiring surgery or when a complication arose mid-procedure, he would be stressed, and pissed off. But knowing that she would be there when he reached home was all he needed to get through the day.
She was all he needed, and he was hers.
❦ ❦ ❦
NORAH AND MARK WERE over at Callie and Arizona's apartment, along with Timothy, who had just got off his shift in the hospital. Norah had her chin rested on Mark's arm, whose hand was resting on her now-visibly large bump.
"Sofia's finally asleep," Arizona exhaled as she walked out of the room. She closed the door gently behind her and joined the rest of them at the kitchen island, where the strong aroma filled their lungs.
Timothy was humming to a tune while he moved swiftly in the kitchen, juggling back and forth between a pot of stew and the pan sizzling on the stove. Norah had perked her head up to see what he was cooking since she was really counting down to feast on her food.
"Hey, Tim," Arizona called, and he turned his head to her. "Why become a surgeon when you can be a chef?"
"The truth? It pays more."
Norah snorted while Mark raised his brows at the younger man. "Wow."
"I'm being realistic!" Timothy defended while stirring the stew.
"And how're things going on with Julian?" Callie asked, sending him a smirk, and he pretended that he did not hear her words.
"The eye doctor?" Mark raised a brow with a displeased tone, "Wait, you guys are toge..."
His words trailed off when Norah silently bit down on his sleeve. He blinked at her action before lowering his face to her. "That's cute-you're cute-but why are you biting my arm?"
She shrugged back at him, and Arizona spoke up, "Oh, come on, Tim, we know you can hear us."
"Mm-hmm, indeed, I can," he deadpanned, narrowing his eyes at the four who looked beyond invested in his personal life. "So, how 'bout we stop meddling on my pathetic-or-not love life."
"Ooh, someone's cranky," Norah cooed, and he shot her an unamused glare. Their chuckles and laughs got replaced by a grunt and a yelp from Mark, whose arm was grasped tightly by the pregnant woman.
"I'm really hating these Braxton Hicks contractions," she hissed, "Why the bloody hell does it feel so-oh my crap, I need this kid out of me like ASAP because I don't think my uterus will be usable after-somebody say something to distract me!"
The group looked at each other before Callie voiced out, "Um... Be glad that you're able to experience it instead of getting thrown through a windshield?"
Norah quirked a brow at her before her grip loosened on Mark's arm; the latter let out a deep exhale, silently rubbing his now-sore arm.
Arizona set down her spoon and grimaced, "Calliope, that was dark."
❦ ❦ ❦
S8 EP8
"YIKES. THESE ARE INTENSE," Lexie stated, looking at the brain scans that Derek had put up on the computer screen.
"It's not yikes, Lexie. They're fun, brilliant, gorgeous tumors-the word you're looking for is wow," Norah spoke with a hint of glow in her eyes. Derek, who had a similar enthusiastic look on his face, nodded in agreement.
Lexie furrowed her brows at the both of them before asking, "Are these patients of yours?"
"They will be," he replied. "I went looking for patients who were told no by every doctor they've seen."
"So, what are you gonna do?"
Norah cocked a brow at him, recognising that look on the attending's face. "Tell them yes," he replied with a grin on his face, "Tell them I will do my best."
"Seemingly inoperable cases are my favourite," Norah voiced out. The idea of installing new hope into patients who were not given any brought a smile to her face.
Derek chuckled before turning to the residents. "It's not just me. It's the both of you, too. You ready?"
Norah returned him an exciting nod while Lexie stared at him in surprise. "Me? I... Yes, of course!"
He grinned back at both the residents before he took the clipboard from Lexie's hand, furrowing his brows at the paper. "What's this?"
"Uh, Justine Campbell's, AMA forms," she explained, "She's leaving against-"
"Ha! She's so not ready," Norah snorted, and the younger resident stammered.
"What? Why?"
"Lexie, we're saying yes," Derek told her, handing the clipboard back, "If you can't get her to say yes to a simple surgery that will save her life, how do you expect to tackle that?"
Norah was scrolling through the many rejected cases and landed on one that particularly caught her eye. She switched it away to another frame when Derek pointed at it. "Tear those up. Get her to say yes, and I'll let you jump on one of these. Okay? What do you say?"
"Yes," Lexie replied with the brightest grin on her face.
"Damn right."
Norah switched back to the brain CT that caught her attention and pointed at it eagerly, causing Derek to raise a brow at her. "I book this brain. It's my brain now," she stated firmly, "Save this for me after I pop out this Sloan Offspring inside of me."
❦ ❦ ❦
NORAH WAS STILL TYPING the drafts for her new paper to publish with a crease on her forehead. Meredith glimpsed at her laptop screen-five tabs open with two documents, and she was doodling on Paint-and raised a concerning brow at her.
"How did you get a call from Stanford with... that?"
"It's called a creative process," Norah shrugged, leaning back against her chair while her eyes landed on the food on the table. "Cristina, I want the carrot sticks."
Cristina took her eyes off heart-in-a-box and raised a brow at the brunette. "No."
"Your godchild wants some."
"N-wait, my what?" Cristina widened her eyes, staring at the brunette in surprise.
"You heard right, you're godmother for my kid, Cristina," Norah smirked back at her, physically shutting the other resident's jaw. "Now, can Sloan Offspring have some carrot sticks?"
"Oh... Oh, alright, fine." Cristina nudged her box of lunch to her with a small smile on her face, but before Norah could pick up the carrots, she retracted her hand slightly. "Did it at least say please?"
Meredith snorted next to the unamused-looking Norah. "Yes, and thank you," the latter deadpanned. Cristina nodded with a satisfied smirk before passing her the food.
"It's kind of soothing," April stated as she stared at heart-in-a-box, "Like sitting in front of a fish tank."
"It's not a fish tank. It's a key," Cristina deadpanned before scooping a spoonful of mushroom into her mouth.
Meredith glanced at the heart before turning back to her best friend confusingly. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Ask Webber," Cristina snapped, staring at the heart frustratingly. "He came in here, trashing my wish list, and told me heart-in-a-box was the key to fixing it. Well, I'll tell you something: she's not talking."
Norah took the small stack of paper in front of Cristina and flipped through it, cocking a brow at the list she had made. "Well, it is kinda trashy," she commented and received an unamusing glare from the other woman.
Cristina seized the remaining carrot sticks away from her hand before turning back to the heart. "Heart-in-a-box, what should I put on my wish list? Heart-in-a-box, what should I put on my sandwich? Heart-in-a-box, should my godson have all my carrot sticks?"
Norah perked up a little at the last question, narrowing her eyes at the pulsating organ.
"See? Nothing."
❦ ❦ ❦
S8 EP9
"SHE DOESN'T WANT ANY kids at all?" Mark questioned while they headed down the hallway outside the OR nurses' station.
"Zola was her baby," Derek stated with a sigh, "She doesn't want another baby."
"Ah, she'll come around," Mark shrugged. "She's upset. Give her some time... Oh, hey, look who's here."
The two attendings walked into Timothy, who had Sofia strapped onto him while she attempted to put his coloured bracelet in her mouth. "Thought I'd bring her out for a walk," he spoke before raising a brow at the neurosurgeon, "Why is Derek looking so sulky?"
"Ah, they lost Zola, and now Grey doesn't want another baby," Mark explained while he cooed Sofia.
Timothy turned his head to Derek. "Well, if that doesn't work out, you can always help with Sofia," he offered while grinning at his daughter, "I mean, there's three of us parenting her right now, and it works pretty well."
"No one gets too exhausted, and you're not on every night," Mark added with a firm nod, clapping the younger man on the back. "That's a smart idea. You can work him into your rotation." He then turned to the unamused neurosurgeon, "Or you can help out with my kid. I'm sure Norah wouldn't mind."
"She's a baby, and your kid isn't even born yet. They're not time-shares in Cabo," Derek deadpanned, glaring at the two men, who could not take their eyes off Sofia. "Where is Norah, anyways?"
"Eating or sleeping, either one," Mark replied, checking his pager. "I gotta go. Bye, Sofia."
Timothy snickered when the plastic surgeon headed off, and he turned to Derek, who still looked stressed. "Call them in the morning and fight for Zola," he advised the attending, "She's your daughter. So prove to them that you two are her parents."
❦ ❦ ❦
S8 EP10
TIMOTHY PLACED THE irrigation tray beside him while he started cleaning the wound on the patient's face.
An odd sense of tension radiated from behind him, where Lexie was standing. She had a phone pressed to her ear while flipping through a thick binder of contacts.
Derek tore off the piece of the tiny cup that was covering the patient's eye and revealed a glass piece penetrating her eye. Timothy winced at the sight of the patient's injury. "Ouch."
"Ouch? Really, Tim? That's your professional assessment?" Derek glared at the resident, who returned him with a smile.
The door to the trauma room opened, and Mark walked in, his eyes narrowing at the patient. "Craniofacial lac?"
Derek sighed, "Oh, it's worse than that."
Mark rounded the bed before furrowing his brows at the patient's injury. "We need a retinal-vitreous surgeon."
"Yeah. I've got Lexie calling around for one right now," the neurosurgeon informed.
Mark turned to look at Lexie, who stood at the side of the room, then raised a brow at Timothy, who ignored him. The plastic surgeon knew that both the residents were still in love with each other-his sources of gossips were never wrong.
"Parker isn't answering, and Waldman is gonna be at least another hour," Lexie notified the attendings.
"Try Jassy."
"Jassy?" Mark cocked a brow before shaking his head disapprovingly, "I'm not quite a fan of his work, honestly, and this is a kid we're talking about."
Timothy sighed before speaking up, "I, well, know someone." He ripped off one side of his glove before fishing out his phone from his pocket and dialling a number.
The attendings furrowed his brows at him curiously while he continued assessing the patient's injury; Lexie was still flipping the phone book while trying to get the surgeons to pick up their phone.
"Who are you calling?" Mark asked curiously.
Timothy gave him a brief glance before replying, "Julian Kane."
Lexie tensed momentarily before interjecting, "Um, you know, it's gonna take at least 45 minutes to get here from Seattle Pres."
"Lexie, this patient is a kid who's gonna go blind if you don't put your... personal issues aside," Derek voiced out while Mark stared between them humorously.
"Alright... L-Let's call him..."
Mark grimaced a little at the awkwardness in the air, sharing a look with Derek, who let out a heavy sigh.
❦ ❦ ❦
JACKSON PLACED A MASK over his face before pushing open the door to the OR. Derek's head perked up along with Mark, who raised a brow at him. "Uh, Dr Sloan, how long do you have left?" the resident queried.
"A couple more minutes," Mark replied before frowning at the resident's look behind the mask. "Can whatever problem you have wait a couple minutes, Avery?"
Jackson nodded in response. "I... I suppose so... Yeah." He stood at the side of the OR, silently tapping his foot while he watched the plastic surgeon suture near the patient's eye.
The 'couple minutes' felt longer than it actually was, and Jackson stood uneasily in his place.
"Alright, this kid's eye is gonna be as good as new," Mark announced satisfactorily. He stood up and turned to the resident, who was close to sweating. "What's the problem? You look like you're about to piss yourself there."
Jackson cleared his throat. "Uh... Norah's is active labor right now, and-"
"What?!" Mark's shriek caused everyone's attention to direct to him. "She-You-I-Avery! You didn't feel the urgency to tell me that fifteen minutes ago?! W-When did her water break?"
"Three hours ago-"
"Three hours, Avery! You-She's-She's actually gonna kill me this time! G-Get Addison-"
"She already made the call-"
While Mark immediately darted to scrub out, Derek broke into a laugh, turning to the resident. "I'm gonna guess that Norah was calm and told you to not pull him out of surgery until he's finished?"
"Yeah..."
"And now Mark's the one freaking out. Typical," the attending laughed. "Avery, make sure he doesn't faint on his way."
❦ ❦ ❦
IT WAS HOURS AFTER HE darted out of the OR. He had to fill in an insanely long list of forms to admit her and so on, then personally get Addison to the hospital, then ranted on when he got called off to an emergency surgery.
Timothy had drawn the short straw and was stuck with his sister for the rest of the night.
"Mark Everett Sloan! Get your arse in here right now!"
Addison snorted when Mark nearly tripped on his own feet while hurrying into the labor room. Timothy had 'passed the baton' to him, letting the soon-to-be father take his seat next to her.
"I gotta warn you, man, her grip is something else," Timothy whispered to him while rubbing his forearm; Mark had a terrified look under his nervousness when he pulled the seat closer to the bed.
"H-How are you feeling?" he asked her and was met by Norah's eyes that filled with fury.
"How am I feeling?! I'm about to push a bloody boulder out of a very small hole, and you look like you're about to faint!" she snapped at him, "How the fuck do you think I'm feeling?!"
He gulped and nodded firmly, mentally shutting himself up. "Well, Norah, you're almost six cm dilated," Addison informed rather calmly, "I'm gonna assume that you'll want an-"
"An epidural? Oh, fuck, yes, please. Load me the hell up. I have no interest in feeling this pain," Norah gritted her teeth at her while she grasped Mark's hand, feeling the contractions. "And fuck you, Mark Sloan. I'm gonna fucking kill you-"
Addison furrowed her brows at the man, who looked like he was about to implode. "Mark, do you want an epidural? This might take a few more hours," she asked amusingly, and he smiled back at her painfully.
The dad-to-be had to fight back the impulse to accept the offer.
❦ ❦ ❦
MARK HAD HIS ARM gripped tightly-very tightly-by Norah, who was soaked in her sweat. Long, deep breaths. She had been on the bed for a few more hours now, and her paragraphs of swearing and cursing were nowhere close to faltering anytime soon.
"Okay, Norah, you're crowning-"
"Oh, great, fucking brilliant," Norah cut her off as her nails dug into Mark's arm, the latter trying his absolute best to muster up a neutral-ish face.
"L-Laurie... My arm... h-hurts..."
"Mark, if you're gonna start complaining-I swear to god, I'm gonna bite you and tear off your fucking flesh!" she howled at him, and he nodded with a whimper. "And you are not permitted to faint, you hear me?!"
"Y-Yes, I-ow-yes..."
"Alright, Norah, I need you to push now..."
He tried to whisper encouraging words to her, but his voice was trembling and yelping. He really tried.
In the end, he shoved a hand towel into his mouth when he felt his arm getting ripped off.
Her deadly glare was something he swore that he would spend the rest of his life making up to.
❦ ❦ ❦
ONE NIGHT COULD CHANGE a lot of things.
The group of nervous and tired surgeons were sent home by the new parents, who were both exhausted.
Now, it was the morning after, where the hospital was fairly quiet, and the same group of people stood outside the birthing suite while Addison went to check on the mother and child.
Arizona was carrying Sofia in her arms while Callie tried to get the pacing Timothy to relax.
Lexie was rambling on while Meredith attempted to calm her nerves; Cristina stared at the sisters unamusingly after her unsuccessful surgery, but she was also stealing glances into the room.
Derek stood next to his wife with grins plastered on their faces while carrying Zola in his arms.
Jackson and April were sitting at the nurses' station, the former trying to stay awake after Mark had dumped all his cases to him.
Alex was snacking on a bag of chips, his foot tapping nervously but quietly against the floor. Bailey reached her hand into the bag, and the resident reluctantly lowered the bag to her.
The door to the room opened, and all of them perked up at once. Addison walked out with a bright smile on her face. "It was a smooth delivery around two in the morning, and they're all doing well," she informed, and they exhaled in relief.
The red-haired surgeon smirked before adding, "Mark did not faint-which I'm extremely surprised of-and Norah hasn't killed him... yet."
The group snorted, and Derek asked, "Is it a girl or a boy?"
"It's a healthy baby boy."
Timothy perked up, "Holy fuck, I have a nephew?!"
"Timothy! No swearing in front of Sofia!" Callie hissed at him, and he returned her with an apologetic smile.
"And I was told to send everyone in," Addison informed, "But the room would be too crowded, so Norah asked to send in all the residents since it wouldn't be fair to let half go in first, plus Derek, too."
Timothy was quick to carry Sofia off Arizona's arms before zooming into the room, but he got beaten by Cristina, who raced in to see her godchild; the six other surgeons followed closely behind them.
Norah was seated on the bed with Mark's chin on her shoulder; the latter's forearm had a few bruises and shallow cuts. The both of them stared at their son with an awestricken look behind their tired eyes. The baby was sleeping soundly, wrapped in a warm blanket in his mother's arms.
"You look like hell."
"I look hot-whoa, is that Zola?" Norah questioned, and both the neurosurgeon and Meredith grinned widely and nodded in response.
The residents surrounded the bed, all feeling soft at the sight of the baby boy. Jackson rested a hand on April's shoulder as she was close to tears; Alex, Meredith and Cristina and Lexie stood in a line, staring at the newborn in awe.
Timothy sat down at the edge of the bed, glancing at the little boy while he brought Sofia closer to him. "Hey, Sofia, that's your cousin brother... What's his name?"
"Jace Malachi Lawrence-Sloan," Mark announced proudly, gently rubbing his son's head.
"We're going with Kai for short," Norah added. "Kai after Tim's middle name, and Jace after... Jace Thompson." Her smile softened at the remembrance, as well as everyone else.
However, Timothy's sinister grin widened. "Hah! In your face, Mark! Your kid has my name-pay up!" Norah cocked a puzzled brow when Mark fished out a ten-dollar bill and handed it to her brother.
"We had a bet," the new-dad explained with a sigh, "Tim bet that you'll want our kid here to be named after him, no matter the gender."
"The name 'Kai' is gender-neutral," Timothy interjected as he rocked Sofia in his arms.
"And 'Everett' isn't?" Mark shot him an unfazed look.
Norah mentally face-palmed at them as everyone else burst into laughter and chuckles.
At the same time, Timothy had a hand extended to all the other surgeons in the room; they unpleasantly handed over different values of dollar bills to the resident. Mark had a curious frown on his face, one that made his eyebrow quirk up when Timothy's hand reached the front of his sister.
"Ugh, sod off, I'll pay you back tomorrow or something," Norah rolled her eyes at her brother.
"Why do you... Why are all of you paying him?" Mark popped out the question, "What am I missing here?"
Timothy shoved the handful of cash into his pocket while Sofia stirred in his arm. "See, you gotta be grateful of me, Mark, because all of them bet that you'd faint. I didn't," he sniggered, "Thanks for not fainting, I guess."
"Oh..." the plastic surgeon blinked, snapping his head to his girlfriend, "You, too?!" As the surgeons in the room broke into laughter, Norah shut him up with a quick peck on the lips.
"Sweetheart, this Sloan Offspring here is officially a Sloan replica," Cristina voiced out, cocking her head as she stared at baby Kai. She leaned closer, whispering, "Remember when you kicked me in your mom's womb? Yeah... Auntie Cristina isn't gonna forget that easily..."
Meredith nudged her while Alex snorted. "They're all gonna grow up together," the former voiced out as she carried Zola closer to them. All three babies were sleeping peacefully with their parents smiling back at them in one room.
"Just imagine the chaotic holidays!" Norah's eyes glowed at the thought of it. Mark placed a soft kiss on her head before carrying their son from her arms. He was entirely devoured by the little one.
Norah Lawrence and Mark Sloan welcomed their baby boy into the world-a beacon of joy radiating in his proud parents' world.
━━━━━
So I've written this fic well before Kai Bartley was introduced into the show (S18??). Sloarie baby name is Kai, so ignore the coincidence lmao