CODING ━ grey's anatomy

chapter seventy four

Mark's eye twitched, ever so slightly.

Cassie sent him a bitter grin.

"Can you two stop bickering like an old married couple?" Cristina groaned from the doorway, dropping another one of Cassie's exceedingly heavy boxes onto the floor. "Between this and wedding planning with Owen, I think I'm getting a permanent migraine."

Arizona and Callie followed in her footsteps shortly thereafter, the former not having nearly as hard of a time carrying the weight. "She's not wrong."

(When Mark said he appreciated their help, he wasn't aware that their help included irritating him further.)

"Don't you guys think Pumpkin deserves a brother?" Cassie averted her faux-helpless gaze onto the three women, all of whom let out a sigh when they realized that the conversation still wasn't over. "I mean, it's a new place, and he's gonna be all lonely. Also, I'm pretty sure he's depressed."

Cristina shrugged, attempting to hide the fact that she would miss having Pumpkin sneak into her room at night to cuddle. "Yeah, why not."

"I don't know," Callie scrunched her nose, "That's a lot of responsibility for two people who are only home for, like, eight hours a day."

"Well I think it would be cute," Arizona smiled, dusting off her hands as she looked between the arguing couple. "I can totally picture Pumpkin and a mini-Pumpkin running around, terrorizing Mark. I'd like to see that."

Mark rolled his eyes. "No."

"No?"

Cassie's tone was sharp, fierce, and Mark really wished she'd quit repeating his no's in such a manner. It was rather unnerving.

"That's what I'm saying. No."

She just stared.

At some point, the others had picked up on the tension, choosing to make themselves busy by moving the boxes to the bedroom. Mark just stared back at her, his tough facade cracking more and more every second that hers didn't. Her fists clenched, her jaw tight, her heated gaze burning his own, but it wasn't until a sly, knowing smirk grew on her lips that he knew he was in for it.

"Okay, now let me tell you what I'm saying," Cassie's entire face contorted, and for a split second, Mark wasn't sure if they were just bickering anymore. "Either we adopt a cute little friend for Pumpkin, or I adopt a cute little friend for Pumpkin, and us three live together without you."

He blinked.

(Maybe having two cats wouldn't be the end of the world. After all, it's just one more, right?)

"Can we at least make sure this one likes me?"

Every particle of anger slipped away from her face in an instant, and Mark briefly wondered if he just got emotionally manipulated into raising a kitten for the next twenty years. Cassie, on the other hand, couldn't have been more ecstatic when she rested a comforting hand on his arm, gently squeezing when she responded--

"We'll see about that."

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