Jo changed into her street clothes and collapsed on the couch in the attending's lounge to wait for Alex. She propped her aching feet up on the coffee table in front of her and rubbed her swollen belly. She'd had a killer day starting with a "911" page at 4:30, and she hadn't stopped since. She was tired and irritable; her feet hurt; her back hurt. And most of all she didn't want to admit that Alex had probably been right; she probably should have taken her maternity leave already. The baby was due in two days, and the long hours of a surgeon were taking their toll. "Come on, Alex, where are you?" she muttered into the empty room impatient for him to wrap up his day so they could head home together.
She was waddling out of the bathroom headed back to the couch when Alex pushed through the door. "Nope, don't sit down," he stopped her, knowing how much work it had become for her over the last weeks of her pregnancy to get up, "I'm changing real quick and then we are going home."
"Finally," she sighed moving to his side and pecking his lips.
"Sorry, it was a lot worse than we were expecting when we opened Timmy up," he explained slipping his shirt over his head.
"Is he okay?" Jo asked concern lacing her voice.
"Yeah. Awake and stable."
They stepped on the elevator and Jo's eyes widened just as the doors were closing. A warm wetness was spreading down her thighs. She knocked Alex's hand out of the way as he reached for the button to take them to the ground floor pushing the "7" instead. "What are you doing?" he looked at her confused.
"We're going to OB. My water just broke."
Alex's face lit up, "We're having the baby?" He closed the small gap between them and cupped her cheeks in his hands, "We're having the baby!" In one instant he lowered his head to brush a kiss to her lips, she grimaced with a contraction, and the elevator slammed to a stop between floors. "What the hell?"
"Oh-h-h, that one hurt." They spoke at the same time.
Alex was punching buttons on the elevator in an useless attempt to get it moving again when Jo moaned with another contraction. "How long have you been contracting?" he studied her face.
"I don't know," she shrugged, "I have been on my feet literally all day; I thought they were Braxton Hicks, but this hurts now."
He nodded, "Yeah, they get worse once your water breaks." He glanced at his watch when the next contraction hit. Three minutes, the contractions were three minutes apart and she'd been having them for who knew how long. "We gotta get outta here," he mumbled to himself.
After a quick call to Meredith, he found out they were on lockdown. A prisoner being treated in the ER broke free and was loose in the hospital. "Mer, Jo is in labor. They have to get us out of this elevator."
As the time ticked on, Jo's contractions got stronger, and Alex got more agitated pacing the small space. Jo grabbed his hand, "Alex, Alex, you gotta stop. You're making me more nervous, and I don't need to be any more nervous. I need you to tell me I can do this, cause this is scary and it hurts. This isn't how it's supposed to be. I should have an epidural by now and you should be feeding me ice chips."
He sat down behind her rubbing her low back, "You can do this, Jo. You can do this."
She nodded her head resting back against his chest, "I can do this," she repeated.
"And they'll have us out of here in no time." He flicked anxious eyes to his watch again.
Jo was panting harder with each contraction. Alex cursed under his breath as he jabbed at his phone calling Meredith for an update. He turned scared eyes to Jo when she let out a mix between a grunt and a scream, "Jo, Jo what are you doing?" he knelt down beside her trying to still her hands as she fumble for the button on her pants.
"I tried, but I have to push, Alex, I have to," she shimmied out of her pants.
"No, no, no, you don't. You don't have to push. They've got the guy surrounded. They'll have us out any minute."
"I have to," she grit out between puffs of air.
"You can't," he pleaded desperately. "Mer get us out of here," he shouted into the phone still pressed up against his ear.
"Alex, hang up the damn phone, get down here, and deliver your baby. You're a doctor, you've done it hundreds of times." He started to protest, but Jo interrupted him, "I'm pushing..."
"Damn it! Mer I need clamps, scissors, and lots of blankets ready as soon as they get us out." He hung up the phone and knelt in front of Jo. "Okay, I'm ready. You've got this. One big push," he coached.
Three pushes later the loud cries of a newborn filled the elevator. "She's here. She's here, and she's perfect," Alex said cradling his daughter. He helped Jo to unbutton her shirt and placed the baby on her chest for warmth. He covered them both up with his jacket. He pressed kiss after kiss to Jo's face tears in both their eyes. "Are you okay?" concerned filled his voice as he checked over Jo.
"Yeah," she nodded, "I'm good." She was lost in her baby, tracing the soft skin of her cheek with her fingers.
"You did it," Alex said softly pride burning in his eye.
"We did it," Jo corrected.
She was just starting to shiver when the elevator roared back to life. The doors opened on the seventh floor and Arizona and Meredith rushed in. Alex took the instruments out of Arizona's hands, "I've got this," and did the honor of clamping and cutting his baby's cord. They tucked blankets around Jo and the baby and got her up into a wheelchair. Alex wheeled them off of the elevator to the applause and congratulations of the entire OB floor.
Jo stepped out of the bathroom drying her hair with a towel when Arizona returned to her room with the baby in her crib. Alex was right on her heels. Arizona had insisted on taking her to the nursery for a complete assessment despite Alex's protests that he could do it himself. And he, of course, insisted that he be allowed to accompany them for the procedure. Jo took advantage of the time alone to shower.
"She's perfect," Arizona declared with a bright smile.
"Told ya," Alex snipped at his mentor, reaching for the baby.
"She's a real beauty too," Arizona complimented turning to Jo, "Does she have a name yet?" she asked skeptically. The whole hospital knew of the struggle the couple was having agreeing on a name for their baby girl.
"Loraine Alexis Karev. Rainie," Jo said with a tender smile, eyes on Alex and the baby.
"Rainie. I like it," Arizona said, quietly letting herself out of the room.
Jo reached for the baby scooting over in bed to make room for Alex. He placed the sleeping infant in her arms and crawled in beside Jo wrapping his arms protectively around both mom and baby.
She laid her head back against his shoulder and yawned, the events of the day catching up with her. "Next time..."
"Next time? You're already thinking about next time?" he quirked a brow at her.
"Next time," she chuckled softly, "I want my damn epidural and ice chips." He laughed loudly, sobering quickly when the baby let out a soft fuss in protest to being woken up. "And a delivery room instead of a stinky, dirty elevator floor. But I can't complain about the doctor," she winked up at him twining their fingers together over Rainie's back.
"You are amazing, you know that?" he said with wonder pressing a kiss to her hair.
"Mhmm," she sleepily agreed.
Alex tightened his grip on his family smiling down at them as they slept.