The Starting Line

Chapter 15

Eleanora bounced Luca her arms, Lexie held Elijah in hers as she sat on the small couch in the hospital room. It was the last day that Eleanora and the twins were going to be in the hospital, and it seemed that Lexie was afraid that she would never see the children again after they left.

"You have to tell your mommy that she can't just take you away from me, Elijah." Lexie whispered to the baby; he made a small cooing sound before snuggling back into the blanket wrapped around him.

"I'm not taking them away from you, Lexie." Eleanora laughed, shushing Luca as he made a small noise. "I'll take them home, where you'll most likely show up after your shift."

"But I've had non-stop baby time for the past few days, Ella!" Lexie tells her, her soft eyes returning to Elijah. "Now I won't see them all the time."

"You're their godmother, Lex." Eleanora told her, shaking her head. "You'll probably see them too much."

Mark enters, in his hands the discharge papers and a bag of baby things he stole from the supply closet. Eleanora arched an eyebrow at the bag and tilted her head.

"And you stole them, why?"

"Because they are the good stuff and I'm afraid we don't have enough." Mark responded quickly. He placed her discharge papers and the bag on the bed in front of her, his face breaking out into a smile as he opened his arms to take Luca. "Luca loves his dad."

"Does he now?" Eleanora asked, but she still gently placed her son in her husband's arms. Once Mark had Luca, she moved away from him a little, Mark whispering to their son.

Eleanora smiled softly at the sight before taking the discharge papers and flipping through them, signing what she needed.

The sound of a pager filled the room and Eleanora and Mark instinctively looked for theirs only to not find them as they were still at home. Well, Mark's was. Eleanora's was in Derek's possession until further notice, so she actually stuck to her maternity leave and didn't come running in to steal a surgery with two babies strapped to her.

Lexie sighed and stood up. She looked at Elijah with sad eyes before pressing a soft kiss to his forehead, placing him back in the small portable crib in the nursery.

"That's me. I have to go. But remember to take tons of cute photos and tell them I love them so much!"

Eleanora laughed as Lexie headed towards the door, stopping in front of Mark to coo at Luca for a moment. Mark rolled his eyes and stopped her, nodding toward the door.

"Go, Little Grey. Save some lives or something."

Lexie glanced at Mark before leaving, waving goodbye. Eleanora shook her head, laughing softly to herself as she turned her attention back to the discharge papers.

Mark smiled at Luca, making him bounce up and down gently.

"Your Aunt Lexie is crazy. Absolutely crazy."

______

"Mark" Put him in the crib."

"No, I can't. What if he misses me?"

"Mark, we're literally going to be in bed next to them. They're not going to miss us for long."

Mark cradled Elijah against his chest, eyes widening slightly. Luca was already in his crib, fast asleep. Mark and Eleanora had set up two temporary cribs in their room for the time being, wanting the twins to be as close as possible for the rest of their leave.

"Nora, I don't want to put him down." Mark whispered, moving his eyes to his son. They softened; Mark let out a little coo. "He's too adorable."

Eleanora waited a moment before slowly reaching out to her husband. She was gentle as she took Elijah from his arms, Mark let out a small moan. Eleanora cradled Elijah against her chest for a moment, shaking her head.