3 DAYS OLD

NORAH HAD KAI WRAPPED in a blanket and was now in Lexie's arms while the younger resident cooed him. "He looks bigger," she pointed out. "I mean, he's only a few days old, but... he looks bigger."

"He's a newborn. He eats, he sleeps, he poops," Cristina stated bluntly while she helped pack the things in the hospital room into a bag. Norah and Lexie furrowed their brows at her before she added softly, "But he does look bigger."

There were several soft raps of knocks on the door, a little too loud since Timothy was far from excited. Kai started fussing in Lexie's arms, and she sent a wide-eyed look to Norah.

"Oops?" Timothy smiled as he walked up to them. "How's my favourite nephew doing?"

"He's your only nephew, Tim," Norah quirked a brow at his smirking face as he lifted Kai from Lexie's arms; the latter had a lingering look at him that the older resident caught.

"For now," Timothy winked while he cradled the newborn in his arms.

"Where's Mark?" Cristina queried.

"Handling discharge," Norah replied while passing a pillow to her. "And probably stealing NICU blankets..." she narrowed her eyes at her brother, "He seemed to have a list."

"I might or might not have given him a list of items to-er-borrow-but-not-return from the hospital," Timothy admitted guiltily. "But hey, the rash creams here are good."

"Well, he'd probably come back with..." she trailed off, raising a brow at Mark, who had just entered the room with a large bag over his shoulder, "...that. Mark, what did you steal?"

"I didn't steal them. The nurses love you, and him, so here's a bit of everything," he informed, holding up a stuffed elephant with a wide grin on his face. "This is from Uncle Derek and Aunt Mer, and Karev got him a whale from the gift shop... How's my little man?"

Timothy passed Kai over, and Norah grinned at the sight of the little boy in the arms of Mark's tall figure. "Ready to go home, Laurie?"

"Oh, hell yes. Time to bring our little boy home."

❦ ❦ ❦

2 WEEKS OLD

"HEY THERE, LITTLE MAN," Mark grinned, picking Kai up from the bassinet; the smile on his face was radiant. "Are you hungry?" he cooed in a baby voice. "Aw, you're so cute."

"Mark, pass him to me," Norah spoke from the bed, raising a brow at him.

"Hmph, but I don't wanna let you off my arms," he murmured while lulling Kai in his arms, "Shhh..."

He walked over to her, where she had stacked up several issues of medical journals on the nightstand; the ticking clock had long disappeared. Her frown softened when she saw the awestricken look on his face.

"Mark, he's hungry," she stared at him while he cooed their baby.

"I know," he mumbled, sitting down next to her on the bed.

"He's literally crying."

"I know, Laurie, but he's too adorable!"

Norah mentally face-palmed herself while their kid fussed in his arms. "Alright, hand Kai over right now. He needs to eat!"

With a pout on his face, Mark passed their child over. She tried to roll her eyes at him, but his face was just too precious for her to do so.

"Can I not go to the hospital today?" he asked sheepishly. "I mean, technically, I'm still on leave..."

"Conjoined twins separation, Mark! Do you know how badly I wanna scrub in on that?" she threw him a glare, "You're gonna go split those twins, then come back here and tell me all about it. I mean, they're gonna call me from the gallery, but still."

Whether or not Mark was listening to her words, she was not sure, because that stupid smile on his face was permanently bound on their little boy. She physically grabbed his chin to move his face up-away from Kai and back to her.

"I can't leave him," Mark mumbled when the boy had quieted down. "Come on, look at him! He's so-argh! What if he misses me? He's gonna miss his Dad."

She snorted at his look and shook her head. "Dada's gonna cry when he goes to work and save lives," she spoke in a singsong tone, and he huffed at her.

"I might, actually."

"Don't I just love your dramatic arse?"

"Mm... I love you more, Laurie."

"I do hope so. This is your son who's sucking me right now."

Mark narrowed his eyes before leaning closer to Kai's face. "You're one lucky little man," he whispered with a hint of jealousy before placing a soft kiss on his head.

❦ ❦ ❦

3 WEEKS OLD

KAI HAD HIS EYES OPENED, looking at his Dad and Uncle Derek, who stood next to each other, staring back at him.

"You can see it, right?" Mark nudged his best friend, staring back and forth between them.

"T-The resemblance?" Derek cocked a brow at him before staring back at Kai. "Not to break it to you, Mark, but he's a baby. He resembles... other babies."

Mark rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. You want incontrovertible proof?" He reached out his hand to move the blanket away from the baby, slowly unbuttoning the bottom of his onesie. "Look at that."

"Oh," Derek brows shot up while Mark smirked smugly back at him. "Alright, well, it's impressive. I'll give you that."

"He's a Sloan," the father of the child grinned to himself, nodding favourably.

Timothy walked into the room, staring at both of them by the bassinet with a raised brow. "You know, Mark, Nor would kill you if she sees you doing..." he trailed off before approaching them curiously, "...wait, what are you doing?"

Mark nudged his head at his son, who was still staring back at him. Timothy folded his arms above his chest with a teething toy still in his hand and nodded approvingly. "Yeah, okay, I get it now," he commented, clapping Mark on the back.

"He's a Sloan."

"Guess the stuffed elephant Meredith and I picked out is a great choice, huh?" Derek smirked at Mark, who snorted in agreement.

Norah stood at the doorframe, carrying Sofia in her arm while she threw each of them a hard glare; Timothy and Derek were quick to push Mark forward. "What the f-frog-are you three gits doing?!"

❦ ❦ ❦

S8 EP12

4 WEEKS OLD

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ZOLA," Norah grinned at the girl sitting on Meredith's hip. Mark entered the house after her with Kai strapped to his front.

Zola smiled back shyly before burying her face to her mother's shoulder, her hand holding onto Meredith's neck. "Say thank you, Zola, thank you," Meredith grinned back before glancing at the other baby, "How's Kai doing over there?"

"Well, he's not crying," Mark replied as he looked down at the little boy on his chest. "That's something."

"He's not crying yet," Norah corrected him with a smirk before gently caressing their son's face.

❦

ZOLA'S BIRTHDAY PARTY was packed with friends from the hospital who were chatting away in groups. Many dishes were spread out on a buffet table, and Mark picked up a pigs in a blanket to eat.

He waved the half-bitten pastry in front of Kai's face and received a sharp slap from Callie before he could let the little boy have a lick of the food.

Norah was talking to Derek and Lexie about the 'lost cause' patient they had that day. The younger resident was rather gloomy about the unsatisfied outcome of their patient, but she was still in, nevertheless.

"Derek, I just hope the case I booked is still waiting for me," Norah voiced out, "Or I'm stripping your godfather rights for my son."

"Whoa-hey, your brain's still waiting for you," Derek defended quickly. "Can't wait for you to take a look."

Timothy rounded the corner after escaping Callie and Arizona, who were, once again, bugging him about his love life. He stopped momentarily in front of his sister with furrowed brows, "Hey, where's my little boy?"

"Well, Kai is wherever Mark is, and Mark is..." Norah glanced at the crowd, unable to find either of them and shrugged back at her brother, "wherever Kai is."

"Very fucking informative, Nor, very helpful." He clapped her on the shoulder before walking away.

Derek shook his head at his sister-in-law, who cleared her throat hastily after her eyes met Timothy's. "Lexie, staring isn't gonna work, you know?"

The woman in question blinked and stammered on her words. "I-I-He's-I'm not-He's-"

Norah sighed, shaking her head. "Lexie, from my experience, not giving in to your feelings is the worse torment to yourself. So, go for it."

❦

THE CROWD GATHERED with Webber as the centre of attention while he shared his surgical experience with the rest of them.

Mark was not listening much as he was busy playing peekaboo with Kai on his chest.

Timothy was mumbling words to Sofia before he got slapped on the face by his daughter. He managed to hold back from accidentally swearing in front of the little girl.

But before he could speak again, an argument was broke out in the background of their conversations, from the kitchen, drowning away Webber's words. Everyone slowly fell silent as the yells grew louder.

Meredith had excused herself from the crowd to check on the situation; Norah swapped a worried look with Mark before he nudged her to follow after her friend.

"You killed our baby! You don't ever forget that!" Owen's bellow rang in their ears.

Meredith and Norah had gone still by the doorway, staring at Cristina, who froze at her spot, then back at the ginger man who clearly had much to drink.

The brunette slowly took a step forward and gently reached for Cristina's hand. When Cristina did not tug away from her touch, Norah carefully moved her backwards to Meredith.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" the brunette demanded out of fury, glaring daggers at the man. "What makes you think that forcing a child on someone, forcing a responsibility on someone is anything morally close to a right thing?"

Owen's eyes met the woman's, both lit with fury. "Easy for you to say! You have a baby!" he fired back, and the house went even quiet than before, if possible.

They heard two sets of footsteps approaching the kitchen, every step heavy. "Listen here, you ginger-"

Mark had yet to finish his sentence when Timothy stormed in with Sofia still in his arms, but he closed his daughter's ears. "Get the fuck out of here, right now, or I'll put my baby down and make sure you remember tonight," he snapped, "Now."

There was another long silence before Owen turned and left the kitchen. Timothy sent his mentor one last look before turning back to his sister, who looked gravely pissed off. "You good?"

"Ugh, I was about to make sure he won't be having any kids, ever," Norah grumbled frustratingly.

Mark had covered Kai's ears when the argument broke out, but the little boy was now starting to weep at the loud noise, causing the father to narrow his eyes. "Now you're crying, little man?"

❦ ❦ ❦

5 WEEKS OLD

NORAH OPENED THE DOOR to their apartment, only to see Cristina, Alex, April and Jackson; the latter held a bag up in his hand.

"Uh, let's just say that Sloan handed some cash and told me to pick out some baby toys for Kai," he explained, "And I might've added a few of my own."

April pushed in after Jackson, holding a plate covered with clear cling wrap. "I helped pick the toys, too. Sandwiches?" she passed them over to Norah, whose eyes were gleaming at the food. "Oh, Lee and Rook are here-hi!"

Nina waved back while Kirian sent her a smile. "Are there enough sandwiches for all of us?" he asked, walking over to the kitchen.

"Beers in the fridge and..." the brunette trailed off, narrowing her eyes at Kirian, who stole a sandwich from the plate, "Don't open the tequila because I'll wanna drink it, and I can't because I'm breastfeeding."

"Where is Mini McSteamy, anyways?" Cristina questioned, and Norah cocked a brow at her.

"Mini Mc... seriously?"

"I voted on Fetus Sloan," Alex stated, popping off a beer bottle cap.

"It was a close tie between Mini McSteamy and Fetus Sloan," Nina informed with a chuckle.

"But Kai's last name is Lawrence-Sloan, and Fetus Lawrence-Sloan would be too wordy. Plus, he isn't a fetus anymore," April explained before smacking away Jackson's hand when he reached for his third slice of sandwich.

"So, Mini McSteamy."

Kirian quirked a brow at them-his old friends and co-workers-before snickering. "McFetus."

Norah snapped her head to him. "No, Kirian-not you, too!"

❦ ❦ ❦

7 WEEKS OLD

NORAH STEPPED INTO THE apartment with a huff after having to come back from a quick Christmas shopping with Meredith and Callie for their kids. She put the bags aside and picked out one item before quietly walking to the room.

There were no cries, surprisingly enough. Through the gap of the door, she saw Mark reading a story to Kai, who had his head laying on his father's chest.

Norah pushed open the door quietly, and Mark turned his head to her with a grin. "Hey, little man, Mama's back," he mumbled to the boy, who looked beyond comfortable.

Norah climbed onto the bed next to them, staring at their son, whose eyes fluttered open; it felt as though he could sense his mother's presence. "Aw, look. He's smiling at me, Mark," she voiced out, and he lifted his head with furrowed brows.

"Wonderful, Laurie, now I'm jealous," he sighed, and she snorted at the frown on his face. She leaned up to catch his lips with hers before the smile grew again.

"Look what I got for him," she spoke, showing him the item that she came across in the store.

The pair of blue eyes widened, glimmering at the small but vibrant Santa hat in her hand. He immediately took it and put it on their son's head; both parents' faces melted at once.

"Oh my god, he's too adorable," he spoke with a gasp, looking at Kai, who had his tiny fist in his mouth. When Mark tried to wipe the drool from the side of Kai's mouth, the boy let out a small squeal; the father was close to fainting.

"I think I'm gonna die from cuteness."

Norah rolled her eyes at him, unlocking her phone. "We definitely need to add his first Christmas into the photo album..."

She stretched out her arm so that the camera could capture all three of them; a grinning father, a nose-scrunching mother, and the son who had his eyes widened curiously.

"Say cheese, Santa Kai."

❦ ❦ ❦

8 WEEKS OLD

NORAH FELT A GUSH OF wind as she stepped into the familiar building she missed so badly. The grin on her face was not even close to what she was feeling on the inside.

"Good morning, Dr Lawrence!"

After a long-very long-goodbye and lingering with her son that morning, she finally brought herself to the hospital.

"Oh-Norah! You're back!" Lexie cheered as Norah stepped into the residents' locker room, grinning at her brightly. The other residents turned their heads to the brunette, and the smiles on their faces grew by the second.

"Oh my, it's been eight weeks already?" April questioned, surprised.

Eight weeks flew by very quickly indeed. A chorus of greets and welcomes filled the room. The first day back to work had never felt this great, and sad, at the same time.

"I'm glad you're finally back, sweetheart," Cristina sighed as she shrugged on her white coat.

Norah narrowed her eyes at her. "You miss my snarky remarks and wittiness, don't you?"

"I miss that you can keep up with mine," Cristina smirked back.

"It's great to be back... but Kai is gonna miss me."

"More like you're missing him?" Alex cocked a brow at her.

"Shut up, Karev. I'm the one with separation anxiety right now."

❦ ❦ ❦

12 WEEKS OLD

"HE CAN'T SLEEP WITH US on this bed," Norah whispered as she lay on the bed facing Mark, with Kai snoozing off between them.

"I know," he replied, but the two parents were nowhere near moving the little boy back to his bassinet. "But look at him," he mumbled, gently putting his pinky finger in Kai's palm, and the boy gripped his tiny fingers around it.

"Aww..."

There was a long quiet moment, where the two parents stared at their son in his sleep; neither moved a bit. Norah's eyes met Mark's, and he smiled back at her.

"You gotta move him to his bassinet," she whispered.

"I can't," he sighed, "I won't be able to put him down if I carry him up."

Norah wiped the drool off Kai's chubby cheeks, grinning back at the boy when he smiled in his sleep. Mark propped his head up on his elbow before narrowing his eyes at her. "You won't be able to put him down either, huh?"

"Of course not-look at him!"

❦ ❦ ❦

14 WEEKS OLD

NORAH STOOD IN THE middle of the kitchen as she chugged down a glass of cold water. Ever since Kai had started to sleep through the night, she had spent her nights catching up on past Neuro cases, especially because she was about to take her boards in a few months.

Mark carefully walked out of their room and snuck up to her from behind. "What are you doing up?"

"Holy fu-Mark Sloan!" she hissed, turning around to meet the smirk on his face.

He chuckled, snaking his arms through both sides of her waist before locking his fingers behind her back, pulling her closer to him. Her hand pressed above his chest, sending sparks within him, just like the first time she had ever done that.

"You know how I love you like, so, very much?" he queried.

"Mm-hmm?"

"And like, we also have a son together?"

"Yeah?" she narrowed her eyes at him, "Should I be liking where this is going?"

He leaned down to her, moving her hair aside to place a trail of kisses up her neck. Soft and gentle, slow and wet; his hand slipped under his large t-shirt that she wore, feeling the warmness of the skin on her back.

He pressed her against him. His words lingered next to her ear, his voice throaty. "I don't know... Should you?"

"And if I say no?"

"You won't."

"How can you be sure?"

He raised a brow, tilting his head to one side. "Whose fingers are hooked into my pants right now?"

She smirked back at him, and he connected their lips while her fingers danced along the waistband of his sweatpants. Things got heated almost instantly, but before they could take their urges a step further, a loud cry rang through from the room.

"He's been sleeping through the night for days now, but today? Really?" Mark murmured.

"Sorry, big guy, but our little guy takes priority over you." Norah ran her eyes over him from head to toe, and she sent him a wink. Before he could say another word, she ducked out of his hold and headed towards their crying son.

Mark lowered his head with a frustrated sigh-dissatisfaction laced with envy-silently gritting his teeth. "Damn it. They're impossible..."