Jo was sitting on the couch watching the Food Network with a bag of chips and a beer after a twenty-four hour shift during which she had had exactly two hours sleep before her pager went off. Of course now that she was home she couldn't sleep. A knock on the door interrupted Cake Boss. Groaning she got up from the couch.
"Alex, I swear to God if you forget your keys one more time!" She opened the door and was surprised to see that it was not her boyfriend but his best friend- Medusa.
"Dr. Grey! Sorry, I thought it was Alex… I um- Come on in." She stepped back to allow the older woman to pass. "Alex isn't here yet…"
"I noticed. Is he going to be back soon?" Meredith asked.
"Um yeah he should be back in a short while, do you want to sit? Can I get you something to drink?" the younger surgeon stuttered.
"A glass of water would be great," Meredith responded, sitting down and helping herself to a handful of chips. "Oh! Cake Boss! I love this show."
"Yeah, it's the one where they have to make it for the anniversary of a car company," Jo said over her shoulder as she filled the glass of water. "Here you go." She handed Meredith the glass.
"Thank you. You know, you and Alex have done a great job with this place."
"Thanks, we're still working on some parts but it's turning out pretty well," Jo smiled. "So um- how are Zola, Bailey and Ellis?" she asked.
"They're great," Meredith beamed. "Zola just started the first grade and Bailey is in preschool. Ellie is starting to crawl."
"That's so cute! I haven't seen them in a while. You know if you ever need anyone to watch them, Alex and I are happy to take them."
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I guess I can't be expecting Maggie or Amelia to mind them all the time!" Jo nodded and grabbed a handful of chips so as not to be sitting in silence.
"You can call me Meredith outside of work you know," Meredith said suddenly.
"Sorry?" Jo asked, not hearing her over the sound of her own munching.
"I've noticed you mostly call me Dr. Grey outside of work and you don't have to do that. I mean, Thanksgiving and Christmas or whatever occasion, it's gonna be pretty awkward if you call us all Dr. Grey, Dr. Pierce, etc.."
"Thanksgiving?" Jo asked.
"Well yeah, I mean, I don't know, maybe you guys will have your own celebration this year, or be working, but you're welcome at the Sorority house too."
"I am?" Jo asked. "I mean- Thank you Dr.- Meredith." they continued watching Cake Boss in silence until Meredith interrupted again.
"I don't dislike you you know. I actually think you're a pretty nice person. I mean aside from kicking me out when I needed to talk to Alex I have no problem with you. And I guess you had a right to do that," Meredith smiled. "The only reason I was ever mean to you was because you were an intern. And because I care about Alex, and I didn't want you messing with his feelings." Jo gave a weak smile and nodded silently.
"He's had to deal with a lot of crazy," Meredith continued.
"I know," Jo said sympathetically.

"Do you though? Do you know he married his girlfriend who was dying of cancer only to have her leave him not once but twice? And then tell him she deserved better than him? Or that a patient pretended she couldn't remember anything because she was in love with him? Or that bitch who stole his job? And then there was his whole family situation-"
"He's told me all that," Jo said defensively.
"He has?" Meredith asked, slightly surprised.
"Of course, what did you think, we just had sex all the time and never actually spoke?" Jo asked, irritated now. Meredith's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"No I just- he doesn't like to talk about his crazy."
"I love him Dr. Grey, sorry, Meredith. I know about his past, and he knows about mine. And he loves me too. I'm not going anywhere," Jo interjected.
"Well good. I'm glad. Alex deserves someone like you, he needs a real family."

"He and I both," Jo said, sipping her beer. Seeing Meredith's slight confusion she put down her beer.
"You know I have no family either right?"
"Well Alex never mentioned anything but I just assumed you didn't see a lot of them…"
"Huh," Jo grinned. "And there was I thinking he couldn't keep his big mouth shut. Go Alex." She tucked her feet underneath her, more comfortable now. "I grew up in the foster system too. I never had parents," she explained with a shrug. "Hence my fear of committing to anything permanent."
"I'm sorry, I never knew."
"It's fine, that's how I wanted it. I didn't want people pitying me. Alex only found out when he stopped me from attacking a patient."
"Well… I won't tell anyone either," Meredith said firmly. "And for what it's worth, Alex is worth committing to. I've never seen him this comfortable or happy with someone. And I've known him a long time."
"Thanks." Jo smiled. "And we bought a damn loft together, that has to show commitment, right?" she joked.
"Right," Meredith agreed with a smile. There was a comfortable silence while the doctors ate the chips together, admiring the creation on the screen, one of them occasionally commenting on the designs.
"Sorry about Alex taking so long, I thought he'd be back sooner…" Jo apologised.
"It's okay, sorry I crashed, I should get going."
"You can stay, I don't mind. I'll give him a call and see how long more he'll be." Jo lifted herself from the sofa and took her cell from the table. "There's better reception by the window," she explained.
Meredith watched as the resident dialled Alex, smiling as she heard snippets of conversation.
"Hey baby, how's work? … Are you on your way home? … Sure, sounds great … Mhm … Oh wait! Meredith is here just to let you know … Yeah … Good … Alright, see you in a few … Love you too. Bye." She walked back to the couch, smiling at her phone.
"i take it from that conversation he's on his way?" Meredith enquired.
"Oh yeah, he just collected some Chinese takeout but he's on his way. You're welcome to stay and join us for dinner, we always order too much and end up eating it for lunch the next day."
"I should probably get back to the kids…"
"You're staying 'til he gets home though right?"
"Yeah if you don't mind?"
"No problem, but you may as well eat while we're eating," Jo offered.
"Okay, sure… If you're certain?" Meredith asked.
"No problem, I'll set the table. Do you want a beer or a water refill?"
"I'll stick with water, but thanks. Can I give you a hand?"

"Nah, there's nothing really to do, but thanks." As Jo moved around the table setting the places, Mer drifted towards the breakfast bar.
"So Wilson, going into fourth year soon, huh?"
"I know," Jo gushed, "I guess time flies when you're having fun!" Her enthusiasm made Meredith smile.
"It sure does. Any idea what you're going to specialise in?"
"Well I know that it'll be Ortho or Paeds. but I can't decide. I mean, I love dealing with the kids and Alex is so great to watch with them, but at the same time I don't know how it would be working with him all the time, and I really enjoy Ortho… Torres is great, and I guess I'm pretty good at it too… I just can't decide."
"Well you could always specialise in Paediatric Orthopaedics. I mean, it would be tough but if you love them both it's an option. You're right about it possibly being a bit intense working with Alex constantly, Derek and I tried it with Neuro but it almost broke us."
"You almost didn't do General?" Jo asked in surprise.

"Nope. I was very close to Neurosurgery at one point, but in the end I did what felt right for me and Derek."
"Hmm… noted. And I'll definitely look into Paediatric Ortho, thanks. I should probably talk to Robbins or Callie about it."
"You should," Meredith advised. "I'm sure they'd be happy to help, Callie loves working with you and as far as Robbins is concerned, she's been a fan of yours since she saw how happy you made Alex." Jo blushed at the praise.

It was at that moment the door opened.
"Whose hungry, cos I've got food!" Alex announced.
"Welcome home!" Jo beamed at her boyfriend, moving towards him. Alex set down the grocery bag on the table. "Hey Mer, how's it going?" he moved over, wrapping his arms around Jo's waist and kissing her cheek.
"Good, sorry to bother you, I didn't realise you had a twenty-four hour."
"It's all good, what's up?" he asked, taking the boxes of food and putting them in the microwave.
"I wanted to talk to you about Bailey- Bailey Shepherd that is," she clarified. "He started Little League the other day and he was wondering if you'd practise with him."
"That's so sweet!" Jo gushed.
"Of course, I'd be happy to help him with his baseball, whenever he wants to. Name a time and a place and I'm there!" Alex grinned.
"You're a star," Meredith smiled. "No wonder he loves his Uncle Alex." Jo smiled to herself. He was so good with kids- it was one of the things she loved most about him. That and his smile, and his sense of humour, and the way he kissed her…
"Also I was wondering if you guys would watch the kids at the start of November- I was thinking of going to visit Cristina for a long weekend, and Maggie was planning on visiting her parents." As she said this, she looked towards Jo too. Alex turned to Jo who answered immediately.

"We'd love to have them Meredith, right Alex?"
"Sure, we'd be delighted. We could stay in yours to mind them if it's easier, or else we can set up the guest rooms. We can talk details closer to the time. We're both off the first weekend so that'd work perfectly."
"Thank you guys. I really appreciate it."
"So do you want food Mer?" Alex offered, "We've got plenty."
Sure, that'd be great," Mer replied, sitting at one of the places.
Jo put the boxes on the table, spooning rice onto the three plates.
"Help yourself,' she said to Meredith. Alex made a grab for one of the boxes and she slapped his hand away with a playful scowl, "Not you jackass! Meredith is the guest!"
"Mer's not a guest, she's used to me being a jackass," he moaned playfully, but he handed her the container all the same. Meredith smiled at their antics.
The meal passed by with casual conversation and Meredith couldn't but notice how at ease they were together. Jo had always tended to stay away while she and the other attending were around, and she found herself enjoying the brunette's company.
"Well, I better head home and feed my kids," Meredith said, standing up and stretching. "Thanks for having me for dinner."
"Sure, any time," Jo replied, also surprised that when Grey wasn't shouting orders at her or hogging her boyfriend, she actually liked her.
"Here, let me walk you out," Alex suggested. "I'll be back in a minute."
"Sure," Jo shrugged, "I'll get started on these," she gestured towards the dishes.
"Leave them, we're both exhausted, let's just do them in the morning," Alex suggested. "I can think of far better ways to exert ourselves this evening." Jo blushed and playfully smacked his arm while Meredith rolled her eyes.
"See you at work Jo."
"Yeah, see you Meredith," Jo said, clearing the of earshot Meredith turned to Alex and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Look at you all grown up and playing house. I'm proud of you frat-boy. And you were right, Wilson's a keeper. And that thing I really came to talk to you about? If you think she's ready I'll talk to you about it at work tomorrow. We'll pick a time to go." Alex grinned, relieved.
"Thanks Mer. I appreciate it. I just hope I don't scare her off, but it's not like I'm gonna ask straight away. I just want to have it in case the perfect moment arises…"
"She loves you, you love her, that's all there is to it at the end of the day. That's pretty perfect in itself… Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you then."
Alex shut the door behind Meredith before coming up behind Jo at the sink and wrapping his arms around her waist, kissing the back of her head.
"Leave it," he murmured, "I'll get it in the morning. Right now I want to go to bed, with you in my arms."
"You sure that's all you want?" Jo teased.
"Well I mean I have a few more suggestions if you're up for it," he smirked.
"Am I ever not?"
"God I love you."
"Hell yeah you do!" She wriggled out of his arms and moved towards their bedroom, turning to look over her shoulder. "By the way, I love you too."

AN: So this was my first attempt at Jolex and I hope it didn't disappoint too much. I really hope whoever is reading this enjoyed it, and I'd love to hear some feedback. (PS: I am so incredibly excited for season 12- one week today! Let's hope for some more Jolex!)