[Early August 2018]

"How was your first day back?" Alex strolled into the kitchen, getting a bottle of water out of the fridge and leaning against the counter.

"Fine," Jo said, her hair up in a sloppy bun, wearing joggers since she was feeling all bloated and uncomfortable – already, one might add – and skimming through what looked like a travel brochure.

"What are you looking at?" he asked further, taking a sip of his water.

"The travel information of the airline I booked two tickets with for us to go to Boston next month," Jo answered nonchalantly. Alex choked on the water he had just sipped on and coughed loudly, making Jo look up at him in surprise. "Are you okay?" she asked him with a patronizing smile.

"You did what?" Alex gaped at her.

"I booked us two tickets to visit Boston in September," she repeated for him, as if they had talked about this before.

"What did you do that for?"

"Because," Jo said. "I wanna go to Boston this year," she stressed the fact repeatedly.

"Why?" Alex asked her in confusion, shaking his head.

"I don't know… I'm from there, I haven't been there in a long time, I just wanna go back for a few days. Is that so hard to understand?"

"Jo, you are acting really weird. What the hell is going on?" Alex looked at her skeptically. Jo sighed.

"I cleared your schedule for that weekend, if you're worried about that," she just replied, going back to perusing through the products of the sky mall.

"Jo, look at me," Alex frowned. "It's fine if you wanna go to Boston. What's weird is that you have never brought that up before. Not once. We could have gone anytime. Any-freaking-time. And you choose now to want to go to Boston? You really think that now is a good time? With you being pregnant and all? I mean… what about your morning sickness? We really shouldn't risk flying, don't you think? And then, I can't imagine you being comfortable enough to go visit Boston or with friends or with….," Alex trailed off, slowly realizing what was going on. Jo who hadn't caught on to Alex finding out about her secret plan rambled on.

"I'm not sick, I'm pregnant," she told him off sharply.

"Did you call her?" Alex asked straight-forwardly, making Jo look up in shock. They looked at each other for a moment, before Alex stretched his head towards Jo and shook it at her to show his expectation of an answer. Jo shook her head, looking down at the brochure, appearing defeated. Alex took a deep breath and rounded the kitchen island to where Jo sat on a bar stool, sitting down next to her and turning her whole body around in one swift move to face him.

"Talk to me," he told her sternly.

"I'm pregnant," Jo sighed.

"Are you really? That's fantastic," Alex rolled his eyes at her. She looked up at him in annoyance.

"I'm having a baby. We're having a freaking baby. I need to know. I just… I need to know what made her leave me at the fire station. What made her give up on me. What made her give up on herself. I just… I need to know what it was so I can make sure to never make the same mistake," Jo rambled, looking down at her hands. Alex reached over to squeeze both of them, making her look up at his eyes.

"Jo," he said, sighing. "You're not going to give your baby away," he told her. "You're not going to be a bad mom," he repeated.

"You don't know that," she shook her head in what looked like offense. "You can't ever know before you actually have a baby," she stated. Alex closed his eyes.

"Jo, we're in this together. We love each other. We're going to have a family. And it's going to be awesome. We'll work through it together. Whatever it is that may worry one of us or makes us doubt… we'll do it together. We'll be great, Jo. We already love our baby more than anything. And we've only known for – what? 3 weeks now? We are going to be fine, I promise," he tried to reassure her. Jo looked at him not quite believing what he said.

"I just wanna know, Alex," she told him. "I wanna know what it was. I'm going to be a mom within the next year… I just wanna know. I wanna know what dangers are out there. I just wanna protect my baby. Please, Alex, just do this for me, please?" she begged him now.

"You don't even know if it was your mom calling," Alex mused slowly. "You can't know that until you contact her. And you haven't, right? Contacted her?" Jo looked up at him slowly, trying to conceal the guilt that she felt bubbling up inside of her. She reached for her phone that was lying on the counter and scrolled to a specific thread between her and a person she had named Potential Mother. She pushed the phone into Alex's hand, watching his jaw muscle clench.

J – Are you my mother? Sat 3.55 am

S – Depends on who you are… Sat 7.18 am

S – Josephine? Mon 1.39am

Alex looked up at Jo exasperatedly. They shared a short gaze, Jo biting on her lips. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were sleeping," Jo replied soberly. Alex sighed, looking at her exhaustedly. He rubbed his face with his hands before putting them down onto his thighs, musing.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?"

"No," Jo answered truthfully.

"Why are we, then? I mean, it really… I support you 100%. This is absolutely not my decision to make. I have no idea what it is like to be in your position. I get that. So, I support you, one hundred percent. But I don't want you to do this because of the wrong reasons. If you do this, I want you to do this for yourself and not because of the fact that we're having a baby," he urged her. Jo shook her head.

"You don't understand. I don't care about her. I care about the baby. I care about our family. I couldn't care less about her or what she's going to say to make me feel better," Jo yelled that last part. Alex put a hand on her thigh, trying to calm her. She breathed in deeply before continuing. "Please, Alex, I need you to do this with me. I can't do this alone. Booking the flight was on impulse. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it behind your back. I really… it was a kneejerk reaction. I was thinking about it and then I just… I just felt like I had to do this," she explained herself. "Please?" she looked at him, wide-eyed, pure desperation written all over her face. Alex sighed again and then shook his head.

"Of course, Jo, of course I'm coming, that's not even the question at hand," he reached over to get a hold of her waist. "I'm just worried, you know that," he told her, pulling her closer towards him, hugging her. Jo put her arms around Alex tightly and tried to steady her insides. Just don't cry. Remember, you're not doing this for her. You're doing this for the baby.

[Late September 2018]

"Did you find it?"

"No," Alex glanced over at Jo grumpily. She was lying in their bed, looking awful. She had been sick for the better part of the last two days. She was throwing up frequently, not digesting any food, dehydration setting in slowly for not being able to drink a whole lot, sweating, cramping and… just feeling miserable. "It doesn't matter anyways, we can't go if you're like this," he pointed out to her.

"No, Alex, we're going," Jo told him with emphasis. "I told you, I'm going to be fine. The worst days have never lasted longer than this. I'll be fine by the time we're in Boston," she repeated. Alex shook his head, dutifully packing Jo's suitcase. He would argue with her until they had boarded the stupid plane but he knew there wasn't anything that could change her mind. So, he was packing her suitcase.

"Are you done with yours?" Jo asked, before scrunching up her face and rolling over suddenly, violently barfing into a bucket that they had placed there a while ago.

"Oh baby," Alex looked over at her painfully, walking closer and rubbing her back softly, sitting on the edge of the bed beside her.

"Don't fuss," Jo shot back immediately, rinsing her mouth with a water bottle. "Are you?" Alex sighed and rolled his eyes at Jo's behavior.

"No," he said. "It takes forever to pack yours. I'd be done in a minute if you decided you have packed enough unnecessary clothing. We're only going to be there for 3 nights," he reminded her, sharply. When he looked over at her, she had succumbed to silence, leaning against the headrest, looking at him with big eyes. Alex sighed again. "I'm sorry," he added, impulsively.

"No, don't be," Jo snapped. "I'm trying to get my hormones under control, so I'm going to cry now but you're right, I'm behaving irrationally," Jo explained to him before the first tears were rolling down her cheeks. Alex smiled at her in pain. He couldn't believe how much he loved Jo. She wasn't even just herself even though she was pregnant with twins – they had found out at their last ultrasound and were still trying to deal with the shock – she even tried to overcome all clichés for him, fighting the hormones and getting mad with herself for being grumpy or bitchy or emotional for no good reason. It was so Jo even though he had told her a million times that he was okay with pregnant Jo. Hell, it was pregnant Jo. Alex leaned over to squeeze her thigh, trying to calm her.

"No, don't, I'm okay," Jo stopped him immediately. "You got lots to do," she pointed out. "Also, I haven't brushed my teeth since throwing up. I have succumbed to a rhythm of brushing my teeth every third time, since this will still give me a clean mouth approximately every half hour of today. Uggghhh, I swear, I will dry out at some point," she ranted.

"I told you, Jo, let's go and get you infused at the hospital. It'll be quick and effective and you'll feel a lot better and you know it," Alex said, throwing some random jeans and shirts and underwear in an extra suitcase for himself.

"I'll be fine," she defended herself again.

"You would be if you'd just let me take care of you," Alex barked. "Look, our flight goes out late tonight. We can swing by the hospital on our way to the airport. It'll take half an hour and you'll feel so much better and then we can just relax and try to sleep on the plane. Trust me, you'll wanna do that. And the flight attendings won't be happy with you looking like you do right now, either," he theorized.

"We'll see," she just said, spitting in the bucket, feeling miserable. "Ugh, this is so gross," she complained.

"Yeah, it really is," Alex chuckled. Jo got one of her pillows and threw it towards her husband, surprising him. He hiked his eyebrows and grinned at her maliciously. "Oh, really?" he said, walking closer intentionally slow, making her grin in anticipation. Alex made a sudden movement and jumped onto the bed, pinning her down and tickling her, making her scream and laugh. After a moment the tickles succumbed to soft touching and Alex started kissing her cleavage and neck all over. Jo still wriggling underneath him sighed and pulled him closer. His hands found their way underneath her shirt, stroking her waist and putting some pressure on the skin just underneath her elastic waistband hearing how Jo sucked in a sharp breath. When he had reached her pulse point through gentle kisses, Alex sucked on it lightly, making Jo squirm and moan subsequently. He rolled over onto his side, taking her with him, hugging her close, knowing that teasing her wasn't going to get him anywhere since she was way too miserable to have sex that day.

"Have you at least called her by now?" Alex asked, his voice muffled by her hair. He could feel her shake her head. "What if she's not even there? What is it you wanna do then?"

"Well, I'm not only going for her. I can't wait to see Mrs. Schmidt again. And I've been in touch with some of my college friends," she pondered, still a little out of breath but glad Alex had stopped since she really wasn't by any means capable of having sex with him in her state but on the other hand couldn't restrain herself once he started, either.

"Yeah, but that's not why you wanted to go, and you know it," he pointed out.

"I'm not sure how to contact her," Jo admitted.

"Hit the call button," Alex suggested. Jo rolled her eyes at him, still quiet. "Or text her again," he varied his reply.

"It's not that easy," she got defensive.

"Jo, nobody said this was going to be easy. But you wanted to do it, so now it's time for you to take action. I'll be with you the entire time, I won't leave you alone," he promised her.

"I know," Jo replied, looking up at him. "I know that. I'm sorry, Alex, I know I'm giving you a hard time, I do realize that. I mean, I know this is all far from perfect and I do feel crappy but it'll subside and I'll be just fine. I promise. And if I really feel worse than now, we can always go to a hospital in Boston. They have those, too, you know?" she winked at him.

"I just need you to be okay. You're carrying my babies," Alex grinned at her for saying it like that. They both hadn't grasped what having twins meant to their lives entirely. She smiled slightly.

"I know. And we're taking good care of them," she reached down to pet her slightly curved stomach.

"I'll make sure of that," Alex told her while pulling her close again and kissing her forehead, her head nestling in the crook of his neck, before falling asleep gently.

While Jo was sleeping, Alex finished packing all their stuff and called into the E.R. to let them know they were coming over later that evening to get a bag of fluids shot through his wife before going on the plane. He sat himself down at the computer and looked at the search engine. He didn't know what to do. There wasn't anything he would find if he was going to type in 'Boston' as much as he wanted to get answers for her. He sighed. For the lack of a better idea, he checked them in on their plane online, considering where to best place themselves to sit close to the bathrooms, and then signed into his e-mail account to check their reservation at the Boston hotel. Alex sighed again when he could hear Jo throwing up again upstairs. He walked upstairs quickly, finding her clutching the bucket, crying her heart out silently.

"Oh baby," Alex immediately rushed over and took her into his arms. "Oh God, you're killing me," he said, when Jo sobbed into his arms. "I would have never knocked you up if I knew this was what you'd have to endure," he whispered into her hair. Jo smiled in between sobs.

"Stop talking," she got out before another wave of nausea overcame her and she rather closed her mouth opposed to accidentally barf while talking. She could feel how her head was lightly dizzy and her body started shivering for not getting enough food into her systems.

"Do you think you can shower yourself down?" Alex asked her after a moment.

"Of course," she glanced up at him in amusement.

"No, I mean it, you've been lying down all day, you haven't eaten, and you've been throwing up everything that you tried to get into your systems. You might buckle under the pressure of standing up," he told her with emphasis. "I can help you if you want," he offered.

"Oh, you just wanna catch a glimpse of me naked," Jo laughed, trying to diffuse the tension. Alex rolled his eyes. "But I'm really not up for any strenuous activities in the shower today," she blew him off.

"I wasn't suggesting that," Alex told her in frustration. "I mean it, you should really get ready but I don't feel too good about leaving you to it," he said.

"I'll be fine. Help me get up?" Jo looked at him with her pleading eyes. Alex pulled her up from the bed, helping her walk over to the bathroom.

"Holler if you need anything, alright?" he told her again, Jo nodding. While Jo had her shower and brushed her teeth and got ready, Alex carried their entire luggage downstairs and opened up a can of chicken noodle soup to warm it. She probably wasn't going to keep it in her but they had to at least try. He perused the papers that were lying on the kitchen island and startled when Jo came up behind him, not having heard her take any steps. He looked back at her worriedly, watching her bend down to smell the soup and scrunch up her face immediately. She looked so fragile. She had put on an oversized wool sweater with black leggings and running shoes. You couldn't even make out she was pregnant underneath the shaggy pullover, and that said something with her 16 week twin belly that was growing at remarkable speed.

"Have some soup," Alex ordered immediately, pulling her down on the barstool next to him. Jo groaned.

"I don't feel like eating soup," she whined. "I'm just gonna throw it up again."

"Try," Alex insisted. "Please," he told her, giving her convincing eyes. She sighed and slowly put spoonfuls of soup into her mouth. She scrunched up her face again while having the first few bites but Alex watched her eating grow faster and faster and smiled. "Pretty good, huh?"

"Oh God, I'm so hungry," Jo exclaimed wide-eyed, making him chuckle.

"Yeah, you don't say," he told her, leaning over to kiss her hair. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better," Jo replied, greedily emptying the bowl and looking around. "Is there any more?" Alex laughed at her sudden appetite and got another can out of the laundry room and warmed it for her.

"I'm glad you feel like eating," he told her. "I'm still a little nervous about flying out tonight," he confessed.

"I'll be fine," Jo promised, watching Alex's demeanor, studying his face. He looked so worried. When he came back carrying her second helpings, she reached for his hand and pulled him closer. "Hey," she whispered, directing him to bend down towards her eye-level and smiling. "Come here," she ordered, leaning in and kissing him. When he pulled back, they looked at each other. "Thank you for trying so hard to support me with my decision to go to Boston," she acknowledged his efforts. "I know you are fighting with yourself," she said, making him smile and nod slowly, sitting back down on his stool.

"I'm just worried," he told her again, watching her tuck in healthily.

"I know that, I really do, Alex, and that's why I love you even more," Jo slurped, making him chuckle. "I didn't plan it like this, either. But we both know that this really is just that. It's morning sickness," she emphasized.

"Well, not exactly, it's hyperemesis gravidarum," he pointed out. Jo rolled her eyes.

"Which is extended morning sickness," she told him.

"I know… but at this point I really… I'm wondering if those medical textbooks got it all wrong or if you are the worst case scenario they had never met," Alex sighed. Jo smiled at him.

"We're going to get through this, okay?"

"I don't have to get through it, though, Jo. You have to. And I can't help you one bit. Aaaand it's driving me crazy," he chuckled.

"I know it does, baby. Stop chastising yourself, though, for getting me pregnant," Jo looked over at him earnestly, putting her spoon down and reaching for his hand again. "This is the best thing that has happened to me since I've met you. And I might as well add that after I met you I really didn't think there would be more things that could hold a candle to having you in my life," she smiled at him lovingly. "I wanna have your babies and I'm gonna carry them to full term no matter how much they'll make me barf and how many fluid bags they'll have to shoot through me, okay?" While she had been talking, Jo had grown the widest smile she had given him in a long time. "Alex," she said, trying to make him see which overwhelming emotions she had harboring inside. She pulled his hand an inch closer and put it on her belly that she felt was growing second after second. "These are our babies. We are having babies together. Like… they're going to be a mixture of you and me," she told him as if he hadn't realized that before. Jo could feel herself getting emotional again. "So, please, stop thinking stuff like if I hadn't knocked you up you wouldn't feel this crappy. Cause more than anything else… it just feels amazing," she chided him. He smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I know… it truly is one of the best things that have ever happened to me… I still don't like you suffering because of it," Alex told her. He hesitated shortly before shaping the next sentence. "But I'm not only worried because of that… you know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Jo replied, having gone back to sipping her soup. They sat in silence again. Alex really didn't wanna push her. That was the last thing he wanted. But they were going to Boston tonight. She needed to make a decision. She needed to take action. He sighed. Alright. They'd have a whole plane ride to think of something. Maybe she just needed to…be there before she knew how to face it.

"So, I know you haven't been out all day but, Jo… seriously, that's what you wanna wear?" Alex opted to leave the topic alone for the moment and instead eyed her doubtfully.

"Yeah, what's wrong with it?" Jo looked up at him in surprise.

"It's like 86 degrees out there," he told her. "And they said Boston is even worse this year. They're having a really late summer," he informed her.

"That's why I'm wearing wool. You know, from a sheep," Jo pointed out wriggling her eyebrows at him, talking teasingly. "Those sheep that have to manage to regulate their body heat summer through winter. Wool keeps you cool when it's hot and it keeps you warm when it's cold. And since we'll be flying overnight… I really needed something to keep me warm. Also, I'm kind of cold I must say," she added.

"You're cold? Ugh, Jo, you really aren't feeling well. You can't be feeling cold if it's that hot outside," Alex started worrying again.

"Can you just go back to being a jerk? You make me worry now with all those frowns and painful eyes you give me. I have literally never in my life heard you think about my clothes. Well, except if you wanted them off," she pointed her spoon at him and chuckled.

After Jo had been done with eating they had packed and left, going over to the hospital to get Jo's fluids regulated – making her feel like the insides of her body were being showered, and best thing about it was… she didn't feel the need to throw it up again – and then went over to the airport. After some time Alex realized that with every step they were taking closer to Boston, Jo grew a little quieter. When they were standing in line for boarding, he pulled her into a side hug, making her smile up at him, obviously having surprised her during some serious spacing out. He kissed her head again, and Jo sighed against his chest, closing her eyes, letting herself be led towards the flight attendants who were checking tickets. Once inside the plane, Alex took the window seat while Jo took the aisle seat as a precaution to make her way to the bathroom the shortest they could prepare for her. Jo got herself belted, before tucking her feet underneath her bottom and getting mad with the uncooperative arm rest that parted her from Alex and wouldn't budge momentarily. When having eliminated all barriers between her and Alex, she snuggled into his side and closed her eyes immediately, not waking up again until they had hit ground in Massachusetts.

"Hey, sweetie," Alex whispered towards a heavily sleeping Jo who hadn't moved once since they had boarded back in Seattle approximately 6 hours earlier. His wife was clinging tightly to his chest, her head resting in his arm crook and breathing evenly. He admired her peacefulness, especially regarding how cramped she must have been in her airplane seat. He smiled down at her. Well, I'm glad she slept through it rather than barfed through it. He admitted to himself. "Wake up, baby, we're here," he told her again, smiling back at the flight attending who had just passed them and looked down at Jo good-naturedly. Alex had asked them a little earlier if it was possible for him to take a muffin or two for his wife since she would be starving once they had landed and he didn't know how long it would take for them to find something to eat for her. Jo stirred lightly, grumbling something into his shoulder, turning her face into it as well and rubbing it on his shirt. He chuckled. "Come on, we're almost parked, you need to stretch your legs again, they must have died by now," he told her.

Jo looked up at him, stretching out her arms and then rubbing her eyes, smiling. Alex smiled back at her sleepy demeanor before pecking her lips softly and unbuckling himself to reach down for something in his bag. "Did I actually sleep all the way through?" Jo unbuckled herself as well, stretching her legs, feeling pretty energized.

"Yes, ma'am," Alex grinned up at her.

"How in the world did I do that?" Jo wondered genuinely.

"You were exhausted from feeling so crappy," he pointed out for her, before getting up and ushering her out, racing all the people from the other rows behind them who had gotten up already. They walked towards the exit swiftly, fetching their suitcases from the flight attendants and entering the airport. "How are you feeling back on your feet?" Alex looked back when they passed security and walked out the doors on to the streets.

"Actually, I feel pretty awesome right now. No nausea, no vertigo, no nothing. Well, hungry. I'm hungry," she widened her eyes at him, laughing. He waved down a cab for them and put the suitcases into the trunk. When he sank down into the seat next to Jo, he presented her with two blueberry muffins, grinning at her cheekily, before turning around to tell the driver where to go. He heard Jo groan in relief and chuckled. "You're really supporting my decision of marrying you so much right now," Jo sighed, already having stuffed half a muffin top inside her mouth, crumbling all over. Alex snorted.

"You are being at the heyday of sexy right now, babe," he told her winking, earning a smug grin, before looking out the window. They sat in silence for a bit, Jo munching away on her muffins contently, her right leg draped over Alex's left, him running his fingers up and down her shin.

"Welcome home," Alex could hear Jo say to herself in a dismissive tone, catching her look out the window for a second before turning her gaze downwards again, ignorant of the on goings outside and very interested in her left over muffin. He squeezed her knee for a second to make her look up.

"Indeed, welcome home," he repeated, smiling. She smiled back insecurely, amazed by her husband who knew just how to say or do stuff in any situation to just… make it better. Even if it was only repeating something for her that she wasn't sure she liked saying out loud that much. Her eyes warmed up to him and after seeking his reassurance one more moment, she let her gaze wander out the window, watching the houses fly by, the parks and the cars, the little spots she knew so well, the hiding spots, the corners. All of a sudden, her heart swelled for having had the courage to come visit again. Even though she had been to Boston once after she had moved to Seattle, this time… it just felt like this was more than just that… coming to Boston. But it was like… coming to visit home. She smiled, grabbing Alex's hand for she knew he had everything to do with it. It was almost like… like she was bringing her boyfriend to meet with… her hometown. It felt weird.

"This is Boston," Jo said sheepishly like she was introducing them, making him chuckle.

"You know, I've been to Boston before," Alex's eyes twinkled at hers. She sighed before laughing. Of course he had to ruin the moment.

"But you've never been to my Boston," she pouted slightly, making him laugh even more.

"Yeah, why haven't you ever taken me, huh?" he participated in the silliness of the moment instantly. They laughed softly before the cab eventually dropped them off at their hotel. After checking in, Alex immediately dropped onto their bed since he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep on the plane due to his mind wandering over to possible mother daughter reunions and whatnot, and also in their time reckoning it was still 4am. He could feel Jo lie down and spoon him from behind and when she put an arm around his waist, he intertwined their fingers, feeling her soft breathing on his neck and the lightly curved baby belly touch to his back. He smiled before falling asleep gently. When he woke up again, he could hear Jo talking on the phone frantically. He turned around to lie on his back and rubbed his eyes, watching Jo stand at the window, looking out, walking from one spot to the other. When she realized he was up she smiled and immediately came to kneel down next to him on the bed, bending down to fetch a kiss. Alex wrapped an arm around her while she was still talking.

"No I really don't see that happening, trust me," she told somebody on the other line.

Meanwhile, Alex had started running his fingers up and down Jo's thighs, teasing the insides of her legs lightly, making her look over at him, and biting her lips. Alex grinned at her cheekily before she leaned down and kissed him longingly and straddling him.

"So, why aren't we just going over to Queen's Head?" Jo broke the kiss and directed the question into the phone, smiling at Alex's slow advances, him having put a hand underneath her sweater and running his fingers up and down her waist. He knew just how to drive her crazy.

"Yeah, whatever. Hey, so, my husband just woke up and we're going to go out in a minute, so can you just let me know what ya'll decide?" Jo spoke quickly before smiling and hanging up, throwing the cell away and bending down to kiss Alex deeply, snaking her hands around his neck and pulling him up to sit with her. When he started to kiss down her neck, she closed her eyes and moaned.

"Who was that?"

"Meg," she informed him without much fuss.

"Who's that?"

"One of the girls I hung out with at Harvard," she elaborated, losing her sweater.

"Are you going to meet them?"

"No, we are going to meet them," she smiled down at him, slowly peeling his shirt from him as well. When she came down to kiss him again, she startled, taking in a deep breath.

"Oh no, what time is it?"

"Um, 10.52," Alex replied, eager to continue what they were doing.

"Fuck, Alex," she said, jumping up and hurrying into the bathroom.

"What? Where are you going?" Alex whined being deprived of his gorgeous wife.

"We're meeting with Mrs. Schmitt at 11.30," she explained. "And it's not a 5 minute stroll," she added, Alex falling back down on the bed, fake crying. Jo rushed over towards the suitcases when seeing his pathetic sniveling. She laughed. "Oh baby," she said, climbing him again, but only for a minute. She pecked his lips. "We're going to have enough time here to make up for that," she smiled widely, deepening the kiss for two more minutes before finally getting up for real and shooing him up, too.

A little later, when Jo had changed into shorts and a t-shirt that were pronouncing her belly a lot more than before and once Alex had also gotten rid of his long-sleeved gear they took another cab to go where they were planning to meet with Mrs. Schmitt. When they exited the cab and Jo looked around nervously, Alex grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She smiled, not looking at him, pulling him towards a café. When they walked closer, Jo started waving to somebody and grinning widely. Alex's glance turned over to the recipient of the smile when he made out a sixty-something good-looking woman, seemingly pressing her hands over her mouth and tearing up at the sight of Jo. They walked closer and when they stood before her, no words were exchanged but the two women hugged tightly. Alex smiled good-naturedly, sheepishly grazing the other guests with his eyes since quite a few of them were watching the scene. After a long moment it seemed to Alex, Mrs. Schmitt pulled back but held Jo at arm's length and observed her meticulously.

"Oh, my girl," she breathed out after a while, Jo blushing slightly. "You look so well," she commented, not quite knowing what to say.

"I've missed you," Jo just said, a tear running down her cheek.

"Oh, now, what's that all about," Mrs. Schmitt chuckled, wiping the tear away with her thumb.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm not quite myself at the moment," Jo tried to defend herself.

"I can see that," Mrs. Schmitt nodded excitedly, smiling brightly and pointing at the baby belly. "I am so, so happy for you, Josephine," she exclaimed.

"Oh, please, I might not be the angry teenager anymore but, please, don't call me that… that one didn't change," she spat out, making them all laugh.

"Alright, alright," Mrs. Schmitt said, finally looking over at Alex. "Now, introduce me to this fine looking man, who's probably responsible for this," she again pointed at Jo's belly making her smile and readily held out her hand towards Alex.

"This is my husband, Alex," Jo told her. "But you know that, I sent you wedding pictures," she scolded her.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I've been properly introduced before," Mrs. Schmitt scolded Jo back in a very teacher like manner and chuckled, looking back at Alex. "I'm so happy to finally meet you. I can't tell you how grateful I am that Jo has found herself someone she truly wants to be with and trusts," she said.

"Oh, can we stop talking about me as if I wasn't there at all?" Jo inquired, already sitting down at the little round table. They all laughed and started ordering their lunch choices.

"So, how are you doing, sweetheart?" the older woman questioned Jo. "How's your pregnancy going?" Jo sighed.

"Well, it's okay," she said, seeing how Alex was rolling his eyes at her statement out of the corner of her eye. Mrs. Schmitt looked over at him interestedly. "It is," she emphasized.

"Why? Are you having problems?"

"Well, I've been dealing with a condition called hyperemesis gravidarum. It really only is extended morning sickness. Alex here seems to think, though, that I'm suffering from a very serious disease," she winked at him.

"That does sound bad, though, Jo," Mrs. Schmitt turned to worry in a second. "What exactly does it mean?"

"It means my body can't cope with the fact that I'm carrying twins now and it's trying to… you know… accommodate. And while that is still happening… yeah, I'm having a bit of a hard time ingesting and digesting stuff – I mean not all the time… as you can see, I'm pretty hungry right now," she explained to her former teacher. "Which probably again can be detracted from the fact that the two days before we came here, I was throwing up all through," she narrated, making Mrs. Schmitt scrunch up her face.

"I'm sorry, I know you taught me better about table talk," Jo immediately said, making Alex laugh and both women look at him.

"I'm sorry," Alex chuckled, Jo trying not to lose her face and laugh with him.

"Did I hear you were having twins?" Mrs. Schmitt turned back towards Jo who was smiling at her. She nodded.

"Yeah, we found out… like 2 weeks ago? Is that right?" she turned over towards Alex who nodded. "It was quite the surprise," she admitted.

"Oh, that is wonderful," the older lady cooed. "I bet you all must be so excited," she looked at them expectantly, both of them nodding and smiling.

"Well, more like nervous to be honest," Alex chimed up after having chewed on his pita. Mrs. Schmitt waved the comment away, meaning well.

"That'll be over soon. It's just the first few weeks that'll be worth the nerves… everything else… it'll be amazing, let me tell you," she told them convincingly.

They all small talked for another hour or so before the conversation took a slightly different turn and they had reached a point in conversation which Jo wasn't quite comfortable with.

"So, are you at all planning to go see that person that had contacted me a while back?" Mrs. Schmitt questioned Jo out of thin air it seemed. Jo looked back at her in shock.

"Um," she stammered, not knowing what to say. Mrs. Schmitt literally stared her former student down. "Well, actually, yes," she admitted, sheepishly.

"Okay, have you been in contact with her lately?"

"No," Jo immediately spat out.

"What do you mean no?"

"I haven't been in touch with her," Jo repeated.

"But she knows you're in town, right?" Mrs. Schmitt chuckled about her own joke but turned to serious in a second when she realized she was right. "She doesn't know you're in town?" Jo shook her head at Mrs. Schmitt.

"How do you think that's going to happen?"

"Well…I… maybe… I'm not sure yet. I need to think about it some more," Jo nibbled at the last of her salad. "It's not that easy," she got angry again.

"Easy? Tell me, which part of your life exactly has been the one that's been easy, Josephine? Don't get comfortable now! I know you can do this and I know you are not the person to hide from conflicts, so I don't see a problem here," Mrs. Schmitt shook her head at the younger woman. Alex smiled. That's exactly what Jo had needed to hear. Somebody else believing in her confidence. He knew Jo valued his opinion and support above everyone else's, however, sometimes he just needed some back-up. Even though Jo had lots of friends and colleagues that supported her, she always seemed to look for a kind of family support. Usually she got that from Ruth and the Brans. But Mrs. Schmitt seemed to be just as much family as their Seattle family had grown to be.

"I'm not getting comfortable. I just… I needed a plan first, and I haven't thought about one. I mean, what am I even going to say? Hi, my name's Jo Wilson and I might be your daughter; would you like to meet with me?" Jo looked at them with googly eyes, making fun of herself. Alex sighed, looking at her in pain, however, Mrs. Schmitt didn't seem to know any boundaries.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'd tell her. Look, Jo, if she wasn't your mom or she wouldn't wanna see you, she hadn't come see me all those years ago. And from what I heard, it took her a few years of courage as well, to talk to me! And she didn't even know what kind of relationship we uphold. So, I don't think she'll be complaining about how you introduce yourself. Just go for it. You'll never know otherwise and I don't think you'll be content with that, either," Mrs. Schmitt looked at Jo, both musing about what she had just said.

"You're right," Jo sighed after a minute.

"I know I am. Name one time I wasn't," the older woman looked at Jo making her laugh.

"God, what would I have done without you while growing up?" she looked back at her, smiling gratefully.

"You would have been just fine," Mrs. Schmitt patted Jo's arm affectionately.

They all sat and talked to each other about light-hearted subjects well into the afternoon and when they said their good-byes both women tried to keep their tears in. Mrs. Schmitt promised to get herself some much needed rest after a lifetime of teaching highschoolers and visiting with them in Seattle once the babies were born. They spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Boston, Jo telling stories from her childhood through to her years at medical school, some of them hilarious, some of them heartbreaking. Alex just enjoyed watching Jo relive her early life and getting to know her even better than he thought he already did. At night they met up with Jo's supposed college friends, which was rather funny and partly enlightening for Alex, again. Jo was completely beside herself with joy and content. Nothing soothed her hurting heart more than having Alex with her on this journey. When they lay in bed together, Alex scooted down to run his fingers across Jo's belly, resting his head on her thighs, showering her with light kisses to the growing babies. Jo smiled down at him in complete satisfaction.

"Your mommy really was something when she was growing up," he started talking, feeling a little sheepish but also knowing that people kept saying it was important to talk to the unborn. Moreover, it gave him the chance to talk about subjects she had been trying to dodge for months now. Jo chuckled.

"Talk about yourself," she pointed out, smirking down at him.

"Tell you what, you guys, let's make a deal. We'll give you everything you need once you're out and in return you promise you'll neither turn out like your angry teenage mom, nor your passive…or sometimes active aggressive teenage dad," he continued, making Jo laugh even more.

"Can you say that again, I wanna record it on my phone and keep it for their 18th birthday," Jo roared, kicking her feet out a little too hyped. Alex chuckled, feeling completely content.

"Or we'll just let you be who you are and be there for you from beginning through end and then we'll just have to deal with the repercussions of that… cause, to be honest… I don't have any friends who grew up in utterly normal circumstances. Well I do, April Kepner. But see how that one turned out," Alex commented sarcastically, Jo's tummy shaking with laughter. "But that's okay. Your daddy, which is me by the way – let's make a deal there as well, once you come out, I'll expect you both to know me and call me by that name! So, I was raised in a very broken home and see… I didn't turn out too bad. Your mommy was raised in various homes… one of them consisting of a car and the 'raising' part done by herself… and look how she turned out… the most beautiful, gorgeous, smart, funny and lovable woman one could ever meet. And I bet it's really comfortable in there, too. Your mommy really did well for herself. Even though she didn't have any mommies or daddies for all too long to care for her while she was still young," Alex turned the conversation to where he wanted it to be.

"Oh Alex," Jo whispered, knowing exactly what came next. He wouldn't let himself be interrupted, though.

"I promise you guys, we'll never leave you or forget about you. Never ever. I'll make sure of that. But I think your mommy really needs closure to know why her mommy decided to give the best baby a person could ever raise away from her," he pulled through, even though he already heard his wife sigh dramatically. "But that can only happen if she calls her, right? You guys are thinking along the same lines? Well, I knew I could only create smart babies… Yeah, I did know that. So, let's help mommy be smart as well, huh? Cause we all know she is but sometimes she needs a little family support to guide her. You guys up for that?" Alex listened to Jo's tummy theatrically. "Yeah, I knew you were. We're a team right. All four of us. We're a team," he repeated, before propping himself up on his elbow, glancing at her face. What he could read on it was love, probably due to Alex's sappy gig, insecurity, mostly he guessed because of him pushing her towards something she knew had to happen but scared the shit out of her, however, the third thing he thought he could spot somewhere in between those emotions was… confidence. And that was what he had tried to achieve in telling her that she had a family. And they were all with her. "Yep, so it's three against one, I'm sorry," Alex told her matter-of-factly. Jo closed her eyes and laughed silently, shaking her head.

"You have no idea how much I love you," she stated when she opened up her eyes again. He smiled, inching up to be eye level with her. "And I know you're right," she told him, when he looked at her as if he was expecting an answer. She sighed heavily. "Give me my phone," she directed him. He turned round to retrieve it from the nightstand and pushed it into her waiting hand. Alex watched her type away on her phone before tossing it on the other side of her bed. "Now," she turned around to stare at his eyes with wild passion gleaming in them. "I have this itch that has to get scratched," she told him, making him frown for saying something so unlike Jo. She just laughed at his face.

"Aren't you going to call her?"

"No. I texted her. I can't talk to her. Not now, not on the phone. If I'm going to talk to her, it has to be face to face," she said, trying to finalize the matter, reaching over towards her husband, grabbing his shirt. "Now, make me squeal," she ordered him, earning a big laugh before they succumbed to the throes of their passion.