Alex struggled to get the key out of the front door while balancing two pizzas in the other hand, "Home!" He dropped the keys on the table by the door and shrugged off his bag. "Jo? Edwards?" He rounded the corner to see Jo sitting on the floor in front of Jessalyn's playpen with her hand against the net as Jessalyn struggled to stand, "Hey, you okay?"

Jo looked back at him, startled, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm just fighting the urge to get her out." Alex sat the pizzas down on the coffee table and effortlessly picked the little girl up. Jo gingerly stood and grabbed Jessalyn's hand, rubbing it softly with her thumb, "This is torture not being able to pick her up."

Alex shrugged as he kissed the small girl's cheek, "It will be over before you know it. Isn't that right Jess?" He continued to bounce her softly on his hip before realizing Jo had stopped interacting. He snapped his fingers in front of her face, "Earth to Jo."

"What?"

"You zoned out on us."

"Oh."

Alex looked around, "What happened to Edwards? She was supposed to stay with you all day."

Jo nodded, "She left about five minutes ago. I told her she should go get ready for her hot date since I knew you were on the way."

Alex gave a disapproving look, "The deal was for Jessalyn to stay home with you someone had to be here all day. What if I had gotten paged back to the hospital?"

Jo turned and started straightening magazines on the end table, "But you didn't."

Alex sighed and tried to keep his frustrations in check. He walked to the kitchen to get paper plates, napkins, and drinks. When he walked back in the living room, Jo was sitting on the couch staring blankly ahead at the playpen. Alex sat Jessalyn down and walked over to sit beside Jo on the couch, "Do you want Hawaiian or pepperoni?"

"Do you think she realizes I've stopped holding her?" Jo asked while still staring straight ahead.

"What? Jo, you hold her next to you all the time, you just don't pick her up or carry her. And I think she's fine. You're still here and she's getting held."

"By everyone except her mother! Alex, babies are intuitive, what if this is having long-term effects on her ability to bond and be affectionate?"

"Jo..." Alex drawled out trying to derail her thoughts.

"According to my file my first foster placement didn't work because I was fussy and cried nonstop and the family couldn't deal. And I'm sure it was at least partly because it wasn't my mother that taking care of me. Even at that age I knew something was wrong."

"Jo, Jessalyn's fine. She hasn't been crying more, her eating and sleeping patterns are the same, she's happy. And even if she was stressed about you acting differently, she'll probably be fine once things get back to normal around here." Alex looked up to see worry still etched on Jo's face. He rubbed her thigh and added, "Look, you turned out fine even after all the crap you went through. If she has just a fraction of your perseverance she'll be fine. Just look at her, she's perfect. A happy, healthy, beautiful baby." He leaned over and kissed Jo's cheek, "Stop worrying." He then leaned forward to open the pizza box, "I hope you'll feel like leftovers tomorrow, I got two in case Edwards was staying and..."

"What if she's not?"

Alex turned back to her, "You said Steph already left, Jo. You feeling okay?"

Jo shook her head quickly, "No, what if Jessalyn's not healthy."

Alex sighed and leaned back, "She is. She just had her nine month checkup and was fine."

"But..."

"She's fine Jo, what makes you think she's not?"

Jo turned quickly to him, "We don't know half of her genetic predisposition, Alex. She could have something major festering below the surface. Liver Disease, Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, Juvenile Diabetes, Lymphoma, Li-Fraumeni Syndrome..."

Alex's eyes widened at her tangent, "Where is all of this coming from?"

Jo crossed her arms and leaned back, "I've been thinking about it since my ER visit. For all we know, she could have tumors metastasizing as we speak."

"Jo, stop! You're freaking yourself out. Just look at her, she's fine. If she has something come up hopefully the two doctors that live in her house will notice her symptoms and get her evaluated."

Jo quickly stood, "And if by then it's too late? What if she has Autism and can't communicate to us what's wrong? What if she can't feel pain?"

Alex looked up at her with worry, "She can feel pain Jo, she screamed forever when she got her last shots."

"What if that changes? Huh? What if she..."

"What if she's fine? You've seen for yourself how many parents on the peds floor come in saying there was no family history of the presenting problem. It happens all the time."

"That doesn't make me feel better, Alex!"

Alex shook his head as he tried to pacify her, "I'm just saying even when you know your family history things still happen. She's not at a higher risk for getting sick just because we don't know her exact family history."

"No, she's at a higher risk of her parents missing something!"

"Which we lessen by being physicians, Jo."

Jo vigorously shook her head as she croaked out, "We shouldn't have had her so soon, it was a mistake."

Alex felt like he had been punched in the gut, "How can you say that?"

Jo's eyes filled with tears, "I don't mean she was a mistake, I...I wouldn't trade her for anything in this world. I just...I wish we had known my history before having her. If she gets terribly sick with something I passed onto her I'll...I will never be able to forgive myself."

Alex stood and approached her slowly before reaching out to pull her gingerly into his chest, "Jo, it wouldn't have mattered. We'll handle whatever happens, just like we've been doing. Besides we wanted a baby together, right?"

Jo tried to wipe her cheek the best she could despite her arms being folded against him, "Yeah."

Alex relaxed somewhat as he hugged her closer to him and kissed her hair, "Well we take the good with the bad. I don't care what's in your genetic makeup; I wanted a baby with you. Look at Shepherd and Mer, there's a good chance Bailey could get Alzheimer's, but that didn't keep them from having him because they know their family can handle whatever comes. And we can too."

Jo hesitantly encircled him with her arms and pressed her face in his chest, "Okay."

Alex kissed her hair and pulled her back to the couch, "Come on, let's eat before Jessalyn gets fussy."