60. Maternity Leave

This baby's crack.

-Callie Torres

Three days after, Emily was back home. Mark, fresh from the wedding, came into her hospital room and she turned off the TV to look at him.

"You look really good in that suit," she whispered and he laughed, kissing her nose. He took the flower out from his lapel and offered it to her. Giggling, she took it and pretended to take a whiff, finding it flavoured with his cologne.

"When I get you that wedding I promised you, I'll look even better," he promised.

"A wedding?" she asked, arching her eyebrows. Mark pulled away to pick up their son from the bed in her room as she sat up in bed.

"Eventually. When we have time, when you want to."

"How about when I get my fellowship? As a celebration?"

"You get your fellowship, we get a wedding. Sounds like a plan." Laughing, she pulled him in for another kiss before he could persuade her to drive her back home.

He helped her into their apartment and she slowly carried their son into the bedroom where a crib that wasn't previously there now stood. Mark took Everett, tapping his back as he gently jiggled him in his arms. Letting out a gentle warble, Everett gazed up at his father as Emily sat on her bed. Lying down, she let out a sigh.

"Twelve weeks of no work. I can't believe this," she said, repeating what Connie had said to her earlier. "Starting my fifth year late is not ideal." Sighing, she turned her head to look at Mark who sat down.

"You'll catch up," he soothed. "You can start on your boards early. We'll be study buddies." Smirking, she tugged his shirt down so she could kiss him, propping herself up on her elbows. Looking into the bundle in one of his arms, she breathed in Everett's scent.

"He's perfect, isn't he?" she whispered and he nodded, kissing her forehead. "Yeah, you are, baby," she cooed and Everett's eyes fixed on her face for a moment before falling away. His chubby face had his tongue poking out between his lips and she sighed, nose pressing against his cheek,

"God, I love you. I can't even say that enough," he whispered and she smiled, heat rushing to her cheeks. After all these years - four years - Mark still had the ability to make her blush. Everett yawned, eyes closing tight and Mark made a whimpering sound. "Somebody's tired," he murmured and he stood, placing his son into their crib.

"We should get a bigger place," she said, turning onto her stomach and crawling farther up the bed. Mark turned around, eyebrows raised. He glanced at their now sleeping child before back at his wife. "Everett can't stay in our room forever and we're married now, Mark."

"Really? I mean…" She laughed at his insecurity and beamed up at him.

"Definitely."

"Then I'll start looking for a house!" Chuckling, he climbed up the bed and kissed her deeply. Smiling against his lips, she touched his cheek and pressed their foreheads together.

.

"Hey, what's that?" Derek peered over his shoulder as Mark scanned through the listings for houses in the newspaper. "What - Emily already kick you out?"

"No. She wants to move into a bigger house." Mark explained and Derek made a sound of surprise. "Since Everett's gonna need his own room, she wants an actual house."

"Huh. Well, we could build one." Derek teased and he rolled his eyes.

"That's your thing, Shep, and as romantic as it is, I highly doubt Em would care. You're doing it for yourself."

"Hey, what're you doing?" Owen's eyebrows scrunched together as he walked past Mark and gave the chart to a nurse. "House hunting? Very mature of you."

"Do I have some… reputation for being the jock? I'm responsible. I just had a baby."

"Your wife had a baby. You just did all the fun stuff."

"Rude!" Mark's mouth dropped open but Derek smirked to himself, holding up a finger.

"But true."

"Anyway, she's still on my schedule for a meeting. She's the responsible one."

For a moment, there was a pause where Owen looked to Mark who looked to Derek who shrugged, completely disengaged from the conversation. "Emily's still on your schedule?"

"Yeah. Why? Did she not-"

"She's been home for four days, Hunt."

"Well, she's a surgeon." The man shrugged and Mark groaned as the neurosurgeon grabbed a few of his charts.

"Give Mark some credit. He proposed," Derek defended with a twinkle in his eyes as he patted Mark on the arm. "Good job. You're a dad." With a wink, the neurosurgeon left and Mark was left with Owen who was smiling to himself.

"For the record, I am very responsible," Mark muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets as the two set off to the pit.

"Professionally, yes you are. Patients come everywhere to see you." Owen agreed with a slight smile, "But personally? You're like the kid brother." Warmth flooded his system despite the barb as Owen clapped him on the back. "Congratulations."

"Thanks, Hunt." Off he went to a trauma room and Mark leaned against the nurse's station, taking out his cell phone. Calling his wife, he waited and watched the E.R. door. A burn victim was five minutes out.

"Hey."

"Jailbait, I have a question." She was eerily quiet. He only ever called her that nostalgic name when she was in trouble or really in the mood for romance. It was something he had picked up lately and Emily did not think that her husband was particularly lovey-dovey at this moment.

"Yes?"

"What is this about a meeting with Hunt?" There was a long silence. "Em? You're not leaving home, are you?"

"Oh, what's that? Everett's calling me? Oh, darn it, Mark. Gotta go!" She hung up. Mark rolled his eyes with a sigh. His wife was ridiculous sometimes.

.

Everett grabbed onto a strand of her hair as she walked to the conference room. Waiting outside, she held his neck up as he shifted in her arms. Pulling back, she kissed his forehead but he squirmed, wanting to be let go. The floors were hard and she frowned, glancing into the room.

"Moore."

"Hey, Dr. Hunt." She turned around and Everett let out a gurgle. She smiled sheepishly, "I hope it's okay if I brought my son."

"Yeah." Everett turned his head as much as he could and she turned him around as Owen cocked his head and smiled. "He's a cute one, isn't he? Congratulations." She nodded and smiled tiredly.

"Thank you." Owen opened a folder and so the interview began.

And after the interview, Emily left the room. The trauma surgeon checked his watch, noting that he had a few more hours until his next interview. But for now, Emily Moore was one of the front runners for Chief Resident.

.

Stopping by the lobby, she sat down as Everett gurgled. The baby was asleep against her chest and she glanced around to find Mark.

"Hey, there." Someone snuck up behind her, kissing her neck and she smiled, leaning against Mark as he carefully took the baby. "Who's my man?" Everett shifted, letting out a cry as Mark made a cooing sound. "Oh, it's okay, it's okay. Why're you here?"

"Meeting with Hunt, remember?" She stood, tickling the baby's cheek.

"And how did that go?" He eyed her and she smiled sheepishly. "You should be resting, Em."

"And I will! I just wanted to do my job. Dedication is a good trait for the new Chief Resident," she added with a wink and he cracked a smile before handing her back their son. "Kick some ass. I'll be waiting at home." He kissed the side of their son's head, eyes lingering wistfully.

"Alright."

.

A few weeks passed and soon, April passed and it became May. Derek and Meredith were still in the process of adopting Zola and the Chief Resident was yet to be picked as Emily paced back and forth in their apartment, bored out of her mind.

When Mark told her of all the surgeries he did, she found her fingers itching to do something. He brought home a suture kit the next day. The nights after were filled with Mark making cue cards and testing her for her boards.

When Callie had her babysit Sofia while her and Arizona worked on a case including multiple broken bones, she couldn't help but read over the charts they sent over.

This continued on and on until it had been nine weeks since Everett was born. That was when she put her foot down, snuck into the hospital, put her name on the O.R. board and left Everett in daycare.

When she scrubbed in with Mark and Callie on a man who was hit by a car, they both pinned her with eagle-like glares. "What?"

"You should be at home. You have three more weeks of mat leave."

"How about no. I am going crazy. Scalpel." The metal instrument was placed in her hands and she let out a sigh.

"Em-"

"Everett's fine. He's in daycare, I fed him, changed him and he has his favorite stuffy. Suction. I spent the whole night with him. I've spent twenty-four hours a day with him. It's his nap time right now and he won't miss me with his eyes closed. It's one surgery, Mark. One, two hour, three tops surgery. Then I'll go home and hopefully not tear my hair out. Look, it's hard to be away from my baby but I needed to physically detach myself from that baby, otherwise I might've never come back." Callie rolled her eyes at Mark's face as she asked for titanium screws. "Did you find a place yet?"

"I have a few in mind," he acquiesced and she grinned. "We can go see them after work, if you want." She nodded and he said with a smile, "God, I hate you."

"You love me," she sang and he scoffed as they continued to operate. For once, everything was completely perfect.

.

Mark and her decided to have dinner over at Meredith and Derek's. There was good food, good conversation and great friends. This was to tide her over the next week. Seven more days of solitude. Then she could get back in the action. Thank the Lord, she somehow survived it. It helped that Everett was now the new love of her life. It was hard to part with him but it was worth it.

Emily glanced around, her cheeks hurting from smiling so much as Alex handed her the bowl of peas. "Thank you." She spooned some onto her plate as a cry pierced their easy atmosphere. "And that's the baby. I've got it." she stood as Mark made a move to get their son. Everett wailed beside Emily and she hoisted him up into her "He's probably hungry," the woman added, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear.

Putting a blanket over her shoulder, she adjusted Everett so he could feed properly and covered him with the blanket before pacing back and forth. The doorbell rang and she yelled that she'd answer it.

Spotting Lexie at the door, she opened the door. "Lex?" The brunette raised her head, cheeks blotchy as Emily's eyebrows furrowed together. "What happened?"

"Uh, I kind of, someone - a Mr. Sloan checked in tonight. He's asking for Mark," she stammered and Emily put a hand on the woman's back, guiding her in.

.

Holding Everett close to her chest, Mark held her other hand as they walked into the E.R. together. Jackson looked up and frowned, as if already knowing what was going to happen. He came over to Emily as Mark continued to the nurse's station.

"Is it true?" she asked quietly and he nodded. "Mark's dad? Or brother?"

"Too old to be a brother so I'm guessing it is his dad. As if being a parent wasn't stressful enough for him - hey, little guy." Jackson said, smiling at Everett who was drooling. The baby was asleep before but now he seemed fully aware. Rolling her eyes fondly, she shrugged her sleeve down over her hand and pinched it in the space between her thumb and index finger before wiping at her baby's mouth.

"What's he in for?" she asked, keeping a firm eye on Mark.

"Some crash or something. Dr. Sloan's not his emergency contact but he kept asking-"

"It's okay - can you take him?" Emily asked and Jackson nodded, picking up Everett from her arms. He hoisted him up, offering his finger to the infant as she took off the diaper bag and slid it onto Jackson's shoulder. "Okay. He's fed, his favourite toy is the dolphin and he definitely needs to sleep so read him a book or three."

"I'll take him up to the nursery." She pinned him with hazel daggers and he sighed loudly, "Fine! I'll stay with him and read him eight million books, alright?" Smiling, she nodded and patted his arm. The brunette mouthed 'thank you' before taking off her ring from her finger. Unclasping her necklace and sliding it on next to the intertwined rings, she put it back on before grabbing the hair tie around her wrist and tying her curls up into a bun.

Mark was about to enter the trauma room and she put a hand on his chest. "Do you really want to know?" she asked quietly, knowing how he felt about his parents. His fists clenched and she met his eyes steadily. "Mark."

"No. I don't but I'm going to have to go in."

"Well, family can't be in the same room so you'll wait outside, alright?" she whispered and he nodded. Grabbing a trauma gown on the way in, she snapped on a pair of gloves. Callie was already inside along with Webber. "What happened?"

"Motorcycle versus pedestrian," Callie informed, hooking up I.V.s. "You shouldn't be here; you have-"

"-one more week of mat leave, I know but Lexie told me who this was." She said, going to the head and taking off the C-Spine to let Callie see.

"Someone page neuro!" Webber called as Derek came in.

"No need. I was right behind them." The neurosurgeon took out his flashlight as Emily went to look at the x-rays. The whole right side where the impact was was a mess. "So is this really him?"

"Let's not speculate." Webber said. "Sloan's been through a lot lately." A warm gaze landed on Emily and she smiled sheepishly. "Where is he, by the way?"

"Avery's got him," she answered, glancing behind her to see if Mark was standing there. He wasn't. "If you meant Mark, I have no idea. He was right outside last I saw of him." Turning to Callie, she crossed her arms. "He's gonna need titanium screws to fix that arm. What're you thinking? Ex vivo?"

"Yep. Let's get a move on, people! We need to get him up to the O.R." Callie ordered as Webber put away the ultrasound.

"He's got contusions."

"Spine is stable. Page me for C.T." Derek commanded, pocketing his flashlight and heading for the door.

"Come on, let's go! Crossmatch blood and F.F.P. We're running on a time-frame." The Chief of Surgery pulled up the rails and Emily grabbed the I.V. stand as they booked it to the elevator.

.

Getting out of the O.R. and heading down to the waiting room, she saw Mark sitting there. His fingers fiddled with the watch she gave him and she sat down beside him. "So, he's okay - stable. But Webber found a tumour on the liver and it's up in path right now."

"Don't talk like me and him are family. We aren't,"

"Okay," she whispered, holding his hand. "What do you want to do then?"

"I don't want to sleep," he said. "Everett's up in the nursery. We - we can go see him." Getting up, she kissed him gently on the lips. He cupped her face, kissing back. "Em, if this guy's my dad-"

"One day at a time. We can do a paternity test tomorrow," she murmured, knowing that this was going to be one of many sleepless nights.

A/N: Edited - November 29, 2018

Next: A Mr. Sloan asks for Mark.