In the interest of full disclosure, I still after all this time love Addison/Alex, and Izzie has never been my favorite. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 2

After Izzie's funeral everyone had come back to the Grey house for a reception. Everyone was buzzing about the arrival of Izzie's mother and the baby Alex Karev was sure was his. Bailey had gently taken the baby from Robbie Stevens so the other woman could talk to Alex. "I hope you like fireworks." Bailey whispered to the baby and held her close as she cast a quick nervous glance towards the Grey kitchen.

!1

Alex stood in the Grey kitchen staring across the table at Izzie's mom, Robbie. Meredith and Christina still flanked him on each side. He was vaguely aware of Derek and Lexie moving around the kitchen preparing to take platters of food out to the people assembled in the living room.

"How?" Alex asked finally, not sure exactly what he wanted to know.

Robbie looked down at her manicure. Her psychic had warned her he'd be angry. "She wanted to be a mother. She thought she'd have more time. She was healthy." She tried to explain her daughter's motives.

"How." Alex demanded again. His already thin patience were on the verge of breaking.

"She used a gestational carrier and the eggs you'd fertilized right after her diagnosis." She said quietly still studying her manicure. She knew that wasn't what he wanted to know. He wanted to know why.

"How could she not tell him?" Meredith asked her arms resting protectively over her stomach. "How could she go through all of this and not tell any of us."

Robbie looked towards the door wondering where her granddaughter was. She wished they could make a quick escape. She finally looked at Alex. "Izzie said you didn't want to be a father. She said you weren't the guy who played catch and barbequed."

Alex narrowed his eyes at the description. He couldn't believe Izzie had used that against him. He'd confided to Izzie one drunken night that he didn't believe he could be that guy and so he'd pushed Addison away. "I willingly fertilized Izzie's eggs after her diagnosis. That should have said something pretty damn clear about my intentions."

"You gave Izzie a great gift." She acknowledged. Her daughter had never been happier than in her short time as a mother. She took a deep breath. "Ally and I will be going back to Shahala in the morning.

"You're going to let him know he has a kid and then take her away?" Christina asked. That was a harsh thing to do someone. Even if that someone was Alex Evil Spawn Karev.

She looked between the three standing across from her. "Izzie wanted me to raise her. A girl needs a mother, or at the very least a mother figure."

"She also needs her father." Meredith spoke up. She wanted Alex's daughter to have a chance at something she never did. "She's already lost Izzie. She's lost her mother. Don't take her father away from her too." She squeezed Alex's arm.

Alex found his voice again. "Izzie is not here to make unilateral decisions that affect all of us. She took the first year of my daughter's life from me, you're not taking any more." He stormed out of the kitchen leaving the three women to stare after him.

!1

Alex took his sleeping daughter out of Bailey's arms and headed upstairs with her under the guise of wanting to get her somewhere quiet and away from the chaos. Really he just wanted a few minutes alone with her. He wanted to look at her. Study her. He needed time to think and to try to make sense of the past few days.

He laid her down on his bed and put pillows around her to protect her from falling even though he had no intention of leaving the room. Alyssa Grace. Izzie had his child, his daughter and had no intention of ever telling him. Izzy had been the one to know all of his pain, all of his baggage. She was supposed to be the one who got him. The one who stayed. And she'd married him, left him, divorced him, and kept his child from him.

!1

Addison climbed the stairs quietly, wanting to make a clean escape. She'd seen Alex scoop his daughter up and disappear up the stairs about a half hour earlier. She could only imagine what he must be thinking and feeling. He'd found out Izzie had died and learned he had a child in the span of a couple days. They hadn't been close in awhile, but there was a time years ago when he was on her service that she'd been sure they'd understood each other in ways others didn't.

The door to his room was open, and she leaned against the doorjamb. She was content to watch him watch his daughter. He had always had a way with babies, and many times after a hard surgery or an especially rough shift she'd spot him in the nursery just watching the babies quietly. A few times she'd join him and stand quietly beside him, but most times she'd just smile and move on.

"Izzy was never going to tell me I had a daughter. She didn't think I'd be a good father." He didn't turn around, but he knew it was Addison in the doorway. The air always changed when Addison was close by.

"You have a chance to be a father Alex. What kind of father you'll be is up to you." She had faith in him. On her few visits to Seattle over the years she'd seen how he'd grown and matured.

"What if Izzie was right? What if I'm not cut out to be a father. Maybe the best thing I can do for her is to let Robbie take her back to Shahala." While he liked and was good at pediatrics, he'd never really believed fatherhood was in the cards for him. "I'm not ready." He'd had no time to process what was happening.

She crossed her arms over chest and watched him quietly for a minute. "I've spent my entire career around expectant parents. Some of them who had planned and planned for a baby. People who had nine months to prepare, to be ready, and you know what I've learned?"

"You're going to tell me anyway." She'd never had any problem telling him exactly what she thought. He cast a quick look over his shoulder. She was wearing her hair long again.

She just smirked. "Nobody's ever ready, Alex, no matter how much time they have to prepare. You just do the best you can." It was all he or anyone could do. Despite the numerous books written on the subject of parenting there was no real manual.

He finally turned fully to look at her. "What if my best isn't good enough?"

She finally pushed away from the door and entered the room fully. She came to stand next to him, and hooked her arm through his. She watched his sleeping daughter for a minute. "What if it is?"