AUTHOR NOTES:

* Chapter named after a song by Mark Schultz.

* DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

*****CHAPTER 11 - WHEN YOU COME HOME*****

"I'm thankful for the second chances and the fresh starts," Arizona said, looking to Callie. "Karev, your turn."

"Me?" Even though everybody was giving their thanks, he didn't think he had to do that. Not that he didn't have anything to give thanks for. He had, he just wasn't used to express those kind of things out aloud.

"Do you see other Karevs here? Come on. I'm your boss, I'm telling you," she said with her cheery Arizona tone.

"Shut up! You're not my boss here," Alex pointed. Except for Emma, everybody seemed to be having fun with their banter.

"Alex. You're in my house, so I'm the boss and it's your turn," Meredith decided.

"You see? Now you have to say something," Arizona said, still playfully and smiling at her win.

"Fine. I'm thankful for... For the the food. It's really good." Right on time, his phone rang. "It's from the hospital."

It was Jo. She was at the hospital, so it was from the hospital. He didn't lie. He wasn't a good liar.

"Oh, we know! Tell Wilson you are thankful for her interruption," Arizona shouted, and everybody laughed.

"Hey!" Alex said at the phone. "Are you ready yet?"

"Yeah. But don't hurry, I can wait," Jo replied.

"We're starting to eat. One more hour and we meet at the house. It's okay?"

"Sure. Bye."

"Hey!" Alex said, as he entered the living room, two hours later, and found Jo lying on the couch with a book. "What are you reading?"

"The Book Thief."

She marked the page and sat with her legs crossed to give him some space. He sat by her side and kissed her. Then, he took the book from her hands and looked at it's cover.

"I thought you'd already read that," he said.

"I did. Four times. It's my favorite book. Liesel reminds me of myself," she confessed.

"Remind me to read it someday," Alex said and Jo smiled. He didn't seem to notice how sweet it was.

"So... One hour, uh?" She asked, more curious than mad for him being late.

"Emma insisted that I had to wait until the dessert. I'm sorry. I brought leftovers," he showed the bags on his right hand. She hadn't notice them before.

"It's okay. I wouldn't be able to eat anything one hour ago." Actually, she could be a couple more hours without eat, but he seemed excited about them eating together.

"Really?" He was surprised. Well, she wasn't like him, who could eat everything without being sick. "I ate a lot, but I still have room for our chicken. You brought it, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. Come on," she got up, already heading to the kitchen. Then, she stopped. "Unless you were serious when you said that about eat in the car."

"I was. But the couch is much more comfortable now."

Alex followed Jo to grab some drink from the fridge, while Jo unpacked the food and decided what to put on the microwave.

"Is Cristina home yet?" He asked.

"I don't think so," she replied, not sure. "I went upstairs only to take a shower, but I didn't see if her door was closed."

"Put the turkey at the microwave too. If she didn't come, we'll eat it," he decided, opening a beer and putting one for her in the table.

"I should break up with you before I get too fat," she teased.

"Don't even start with that. You can gain fifty pounds and you'll still be hot," he came from behind and took her by her waist.

She turned to him, lacing her arms on his neck.

"Good, mister Right Answer," she kissed him. "I don't believe you, but it's good to hear that."

They kissed again and he started to play with the curls of her hair, until they were interrupted by the microwave alarm. Alex pulled the food out of it, put the chicken on a plate, returned the turkey inside and went to the living room. Jo was right behind him, with their beers. They sat side by side on the couch, and Jo turned on the television. After switch all the channels twice, she decided she didn't want to watch anything. Talking was much more interesting.

"How was your day at Dr Grey's?" she asked. In moments like that, they seemed an old married couple, though it's been less than five months since they started to date. Jo liked that feeling of comfort and familiarity.

"Babysitting with Owen. Those kids love us," he said with that super-hot-half-smile, and asked back: "Yours?"

"Listening Webber's histories." Jo had a really good time that afternoon. She loved spend time with Dr Webber, learning not only about medicine, but about the people at the hospital.

"Does he still have histories that you guys haven't listened yet?" he asked, skeptical.

"Oh, yeah, he does. Actually, he told us some interesting things about you and your friends," she looked at him with a playful smile. He put the beer in the table and raised his eyebrow to her.

"He what?"

"Don't worry, they were good things," she stopped for a second, deciding if she could tease him a little or stop. He was relaxed, so she decided to go further. "Well, most of it. I guess that part about the heart in the elevator isn't a very pleasant memory for you."

"Shut up! I was an intern," he started serious, but changed his tone to tease her too. "Should I remind you about the day I kicked you out of my OR because you were scared?"

"Nope," she made a face at him. "Let's talk about the good memories. Like the night you and Grey decided to operate a boy without your attending. Tell me everything, I wanna hear from you."

"It's not a big deal. We knew what we had to do and that guy was a douche. I almost trade PEDS for Ortho because of him."

She tried to picture him in Ortho and concluded it would be a waste of talent. "I can't imagine you in any other specialty."

"Ortho is nice, and I like Callie. I'd be good at it," he was defensive, until she explains: "But you are great in Peds."

"Whatever." Typical Alex Karev, underestimating himself, she thought.

Right then, the front door opened and they saw Yang pass on a rush to the stairs. She didn't seem to notice them.

"Cristina?" Alex shouted.

"Do you have food?" Yang shouted back, right to the point.

"Yep."

"Save it. I'll be back," she said and they heard her steps on the second floor.

Alex and Jo looked at each other. Jo coexisted with the cardiothoracic surgeon since she and Alex started to hang out, but Cristina Yang's moods still scared her sometimes. Alex only rolled her eyes at his friend's response and his girlfriend's surprised face. They waited for a couple of minutes, but since she didn't come, Jo broke the silence and brought the conversation back where they'd left it.

"Webber also told us about the baby you held in the kangaroo position. He said he didn't believe when Bailey suggested that you'd be perfect on Peds, but Robbins was excited."

"She's always excited. And, again, it's not a big deal. I just held the baby to warm him."

"Yeah, I bet you were pretty hot shirtless at the NICU." As she said it, Jo looked at him in the eyes, inviting him to kiss her. He did and he seemed to be ready for more.

"I can be shirtless now, if you want to check my temperature."

She laughed.

"Yang will be here any second, but it's a good idea for later."

"Fine. So, you spent the whole afternoon talking about me?" he asked.

"No, don't fool yourself. He talked a lot about Grey and Yang too. But I like to hear old histories about my kick-ass pediatric surgeon boyfriend, who would never tell them himself."

"There's nothing to tell," he shrugged.

"See? My point. You'd be impressed if you could see yourself on someone else's perspective..." Jo would tell him what Dr Webber said about being proud of them, but she was interrupted by someone at the door. Yang was there, in her slippers and nightclothes.

"Where's the food?"

AUTHOR NOTES:

* I was planning to write Alex and Jo eating with Cristina and finish Thanksgiving with this, but I had so much fun with their conversation that I decided to keep it this way and write one more chapter before move to write about the next episode. I hope you like it.