Hello everybody!

I know I have other stories I should update but this idea just popped in my head and I had to write this!

I needed a fresh start after all that happened to me at the end of the last year.

This is going to be a collection of one-shots about the relationship between Sofia and Lexie.

Obviously it is a very AU story, where plane crash never happened and Mark and Lexie are back together sometime during the 8th season. The chapters won't be updated in chronological order but each one is going to deal different themes. I like the idea of Lexie and Sofia bonding and, though Sofia will never call her mom, I strongly believe she considers Lexie as a true parent.

According to me, Lexie will be a friend and the indulgent parent. I hope you'll like this story and I'll really appreciate your opinion!

Don't worry, I'll read and review all your awesome stories as soon as I can!

The Birds and the Bees

January 2016

They all are in the family room. Lexie is curled on the couch, reading a story to Tommy, who squeals and grins to his mommy. He is definitely a mama's boy.

Mark is on the carpet with Sofia and they are playing with her huge collection of Legos. He can't help it. He knows he spoils his children but he wants to give them all they wish and all his love. Mark has never wanted his family to doubt about his love for them. Thus, he must admit he spoils Sofia, little Tommy and Lexie too. And, he is going to spoil the new baby too. Fortunately, Sofia is a kind and lovely little girl and she is very clever for her age and Tommy is always so cheerful and happy.

It is a rainy and cold afternoon and so the family of four is stuck inside the house. They live in an upscale neighborhood right on the Lake Washington with their own private dock. When Lexie was pregnant with Thomas, two years earlier, Mark had wanted to give this baby, Sofia and all their future babies a big yard to play in and so he soon fulfilled that promise. Lexie and Mark even celebrated their wedding there, just last spring.

Suddenly, Lexie gasps, bringing her hand on her prominent and huge belly. She is thirty-eight-weeks pregnant and feels like she is going to explode.

"What happens?" Mark asks as he quickly stands up and approaches her.

Lexie smiles reassuringly at him, brushing her belly. "Nothing, just another kick in my ribs."

Mark gives her a skeptical look and sits next to her. Immediately, Thomas is on his lap, pulling at his beard.

"Dada!"

He is sixteen months old and doesn't speak correctly yet, he usually repeats every words he hears.

Seeing Sofia is staring at them, Lexie tells her tenderly: "Sofia, sweetie, would you like to touch it, too? I have a feeling your brother wants you to feel him."

The little girl gives her a toothy grin and runs toward the couch. Then, standing in front of Lexie, she puts her right hand on Lexie's belly.

"Just like that and now we have to wait." Lexie brings Sofia's hand on her upper abdomen, where she can feel better her brother's kick.

"I feel it! I feel it!" She exclaims. "Is he sensing I am here?"

"Of course, he is!" Lexie exclaims too, smiling.

She was very surprised and quite scared too, when she discovered she was pregnant. Thomas was only nine months old and all seemed so difficult. She had just learnt how to manage both motherhood and her career and, suddenly, she was pregnant again. Anyway, thanks to her strength and Mark's help – he was a great father, indeed- all ended well.

She was afraid Sofia and Tommy could be jealous and thus she always wanted to involve them in the pregnancy.

Sofia is really a great big sister and an awesome little helper.

"He can hear you, too." Mark says and Sofia widens her eyes.

"Hello baby! I am your big sister and there are daddy and Lexie too. And Tommy!"

The baby kicks again and Sofia giggles. She grabs Tommy's chubby hand and put it on his mother stomach as well.

"You have to feel it, Tommy! It's our brother!"

Thomas stares at his sister and then widens his eyes when he feels the baby move.

"We are all waiting for you! So… Chop-chop!" Sofia beamed and immediately Tommy repeats: "Chop-chop!"

Mark is captivated by the interaction among his kids and the woman he loves. He has all he has always wanted and he feels as though he is the luckiest man in the world. He gives Lexie a look full of love and gratitude and she can't help but smile.

Lexie's belly does the oddest and most amazing things in the world and Sofia finds it fascinating.

Her little brother is there and soon she will meet him.

But suddenly, a big doubt hits the little girl and she frowns. Sofia thinks her daddy is awesome and he knows everything. So she turns toward him and asks: "Daddy, can you tell me how you put this baby inside Lexie's belly?"

Mark widens his eyes and almost chokes. Then, while Lexie starts giggling and Sofia is looking at him confusedly, he finally says: "Hum… What, Sof?"

"Yes. Lexie is carrying a baby in her belly. And I don't understand how you put it there." Sofia replies, pointing at her stepmom.

"Ah."

"Oh! She didn't eat him, did she?" She asks, as she suspiciously wrinkles her nose.

"Of course not! She-" Mark stops, not sure about the right words he can use to explain reproduction to her almost five-years-old daughter.

He turns toward Lexie, who stares at him and she is very amused by his awkwardness.

"Lex, would you…?"

"Oh no!" She shakes her head. "Sofia asked her daddy and I could never steal this privilege from you. And you are a double board certified surgeon, after all." Lexie replies and she gives him a huge smile.

"Okay. Well. Sofia, come here. It's time you know how things work."

He passes Tommy to Lexie and the toddler starts dozing off on his mom's thigh, while she strokes his hair.

Sofia is really surprised by her dad's reaction. He usually loves answering her questions and gives her all the explanations she needs. She feels sorry for him and doesn't want him to be uncomfortable.

Thus, as Mark picks her up and puts her on his lap, she says: "Don't worry, daddy. If you don't know how it works, maybe we can find together a solution."

Lexie chuckles as Mark clears his throat. "Sofia, I am pretty sure I know how it works and I'll give you all the answers you need," he sighs and then he speaks again. "It's very simple. Well, do you know bees? And birds too?"

Sofia nods enthusiastically. "Yep! I know eeeeverything about bees, daddy. Lexie gave me a book about them and we read it together. The bees belong to the order of Hymenoptera."

Mark raises his eyebrow. "Hyme-what?"

"Hymenoptera." Lexie repeats. "You know how much Sofia loves nature and animals."

"You should read it daddy! There are a lot of great pictures!"

"Okay, munchkin. There are bees and flowers and birds. The bee is male and he goes on flowers and pollinates them."

"Oh, I already knew that, daddy! We read it on the book Lexie gave me!" Sofia exclaims and she seems a little annoyed. She isn't interested in bees and flowers; she wants to know how babies are made!

"Lex!" Mark snaps and he seems scandalized. "What do you read with my daughter?"

Lexie rolls her eyes and sighs, while Sofia is getting more and more impatient.

"Daddy, please. Keep going!"

"Yeah, Mark. Keep going." Lexie says and she is looking forward to hearing about the story he is going to tell Sofia.

"Well, there are birds, actually storks and-"

"But daddy!" Sofia interrupts him. "You were talking about bees, not birds!"

"Oh, right, right." Mark agrees. "Birds and storks belong to another story. So, the bees pollinate the flowers and exactly like that, a baby is put inside a mommy's belly. That's all, honey." Mark says and he is proud of his explanation.

"Oh." Sofia seems quite confused.

"So, bees and flowers are needed? But how it exactly works?"

Mark runs a hand through his hair. "Well, you know, moms love flowers. So daddies give them flowers and…"

Lexie whimpers and murmurs: "Seriously?"

Sofia jumps on her seat s though she has just understood everything: "So the bee is on the flowers and it bites mommies? But it hurts!" She stops and looks at Lexie's belly askance. "No. I don't think this thing interests me. I'll never be pregnant!"

Mark nods. He can't help but agree with his daughter, if she decides she won't have any children. That means she will never have sex and he only hopes Sofia will not change her mind when she will be a teenager.

"For God's sake, Mark! You have completely ruined this poor child!" Lexie snaps, exasperatedly. Then she adds: "Sweetie, things aren't exactly as your father just told you. It's another story."

"In this story there are storks?"

"No. No birds, bees nor flowers are involved. This story is only about a dad and a mom."

"Only a dad and a mom? But how can they create a baby?" She asks. "Do they use a… magic?"

"Yes, they do. They use the most powerful magic in the world: love." Lexie smiles and she ruffles her hair tenderly.

"Oh." Sofia seems stunned but after a minute she asks again: "Yeah, but… How does it exactly work?"

Lexie grabs Sofia's hands between hers, smiling. "Sweetie, when a dad really loves a mom, he shows her his love. And so he gives her a tiny piece of himself. The mom protects this tiny piece of dad inside her, in her belly. And there it meets a tiny piece of mom. These two pieces are mixed together and they create a new baby."

Sofia grins. "So, a baby is made of a piece of daddy and a piece of mommy. I like this version!"

Then, she hangs out and hugs Lexie tightly. "Thank you, Lexie. You know everything!"

"Oh sweetie!" Lexie kisses Sofia's cheek and feels she is going to cry. Because of pregnancy hormones, she is so emotional!

Sofia hugs his dad too and then she tells him, very seriously: "When Tommy wants to know how babies are made, I'll tell him. No offense daddy, but I think you don't know how it exactly work. Maybe Lexie should teach you!"

Lexie can't help but laugh and Mark raises his eyebrow. He is quite jealous of Tommy, who keeps sleeping, his mouth open and there is a transparent strand of drool hanging down onto the throw pillow he is now resting his head on.

Since Sofia proudly says she is a big girl, she puts her pajamas by herself and, after brushing her teeth, she climbs on her bad with pink sheets and cupcakes printed comforter.

So, when Lexie comes into her bedroom, she finds the little girl already tucked in her bed.

Lexie sits there and she braids Sofia's hair in two pigtails.

"I definitely see your piece in Tommy. He has your eyes, Lexie. Though he looks like daddy."

"Yep. You are right." Lexie nods.

Just when Lexie finishes with her hair and she kisses her, Sofia lowers her gaze and whispers: "Are there pieces of mama and daddy in me, too?"

"Of course there are, sweetie!" Lexie replies, stroking her cheek. "You look like Callie! But when you smirk and grin you are just like Mark."

Sofia smiles and Lexie pinches softly her nose.

"But Lexie, I don't have only one mom! Am I like mommy too?"

"Absolutely!" Lexie exclaims and she hopes Callie, Arizona and Mark would be there with her. She doesn't know very well how to explain to her lovely stepdaughter their odd and nonconventional family.

"You are kind and funny and loving just like Arizona. You are such a beautiful little girl and we all love you so much!"

Sofia beams and then she adds: "And what about you? Is there a tiny piece of you in me, too?"

Lexie opens her mouth but nothing comes out. She is stunned. For the past years, Lexie has learnt to love Sofia, but since she wasn't with her from the beginning she has never believed that the little girl considered her as another actual parent.

"Yes." A deep voice speaks from the threshold and then Mark approaches them. He sits next to Lexie and hugging her, he says: "You are so smart and shining and that comes definitely from Lexie."

Sofia giggles.

"I am so lucky! I have three moms!" She exclaims and Lexie can't help but cry and laugh.

So Sofia throws her arms around her neck and Mark hugs tightly them both, whispering a soft I love you in Lexie's ear.