Something's Going On

"Bri, come on get up," Jo shook her son's shoulder trying to wake him. The little boy groaned, so much like his father, and rolled over burying his head in his pillows. "Come on, outta bed. You've got school today," the young mother insisted. Finally, Briar sat up rubbing his eyes and made a move to get up. "Morning, bub," Jo tousled his hair, "I'm going to go finish breakfast. Get dressed and ready for school."

Jo went to the kitchen, popped some bread in the toaster, and cracked two eggs into a pan. While she put the finishing touches on the breakfast sandwiches she was making for herself and Briar, she thought back to his very first day of school two years ago.

The family of three piled into the car ready to make the few blocks drive to Briar's new school. It was his first day of kindergarten and Alex and Jo were both available to take him. Jo glanced behind her into the backseat where Briar was happily swinging his feet in his booster seat watching the houses pass by outside his window. She felt more nervous than he appeared to be.

Alex pulled into a parking spot outside the school and turned in his seat, "Have fun bud. See ya this afternoon." Briar gave his dad a lopsided grin, and the two high fived. Jo had gotten out of the passenger seat and moved to the back during their exchange. She opened the door and Briar hopped out to the ground having already unbuckled himself. Jo took her son's hand and escorted him into the building.

They found his classroom and were greeted by a perky blonde who appeared to be only a few years older than Jo and introduced herself as Miss Billings. And that's when the curious looks started. Although she was polite and tried to hide it behind a kind smile, Jo could see Miss Billings sizing her up. She entered the classroom behind her son and could see the other mothers mentally calculating how old she must be, must have been when Briar was born. It was obvious she was the youngest parent there by at least five years.

Ignoring the looks and whispers, Jo knelt down in front of Briar, "Alright, Bri, I'm gonna go. Have a good day." She leaned in for a hug. The bell rang and she filed out of the classroom with the rest of the mothers.

Jo shook her head clear of the memory just as Briar sat down at the table for breakfast. She sat a glass of orange juice and the breakfast sandwich down in front of him. "Are you ready for your first day?" She picked up her own sandwich taking a bite.

"Uh huh, I can't wait," the boy said with a mouth full of food. Jo smiled happy that he was so excited for school; that made everything so much easier. "I wanna make friends to play with," he finished taking a big gulp of juice. There were kids in the neighborhood, but Briar hadn't really had a chance to meet any of them yet.

After breakfast, Briar grabbed his new backpack and they set off for school. Jo parked the car and walked him in like all the other mothers were doing. They approached his room and Jo braced herself for the stares she knew were coming. She was used to it by now; anywhere she went with her son everyone noted how young she was. It had always been that way. They waited their turn to meet the teacher, and then Jo walked her son to his seat giving him a hug and saying goodbye. "Bye, Mommy. Have a good day," he chirped out as she turned to go.

Jo made her way back to her car thankful that her son adjusted to changing cities and schools so well. She knew he would have new friends before the day was over. She started the car and drove to the University of Washington campus. She was going to buy the books and supplies she would need and familiarize herself with her classes. After that, she was planning to go home and do laundry and clean the house a bit.

At the hospital, Alex was once again eating lunch with the other interns. They had all been working together for almost two months, but Alex was still as closed off from them as he had been the first day. He talked and joked with them, but he never opened up about himself. Izzie still flirted with him and tried to work with him every chance she got. On that particular day, they were working together on a case for Bailey. Just before they took a break for lunch, Alex made a breakthrough and ordered new labs and tests.

Izzie approached the group's table and slid the results over to Alex sitting down in the chair next to him. "I ran by the lab and picked up the report. You were right," she congratulated him pointing to the papers. "You figured it out. Bailey is going to be amazed; you're brilliant," the blonde gushed batting her eyelashes and squeezing his bicep. Cristina and Meredith made gagging faces at each other while George winced embarrassed for his friend. Alex gave a proud smirk and jumped up from the table. "Where are you going?" Izzie asked disappointment clear in her voice.

"I'm going to show this to Dr. Bailey," he answered back over his shoulder.

On the drive home from school that day, the car was filled with Briar's chatter. He gave his mother a detailed description of everything he had done that day right down to the food he ate for lunch. They pulled into the driveway and were walking in when they heard a voice across the street, "Hey Briar. Is that you?" Turning to look, Briar grinned and waved. The two boys who had just greeted each other ran to meet up, with their parents following close behind.

"Mommy, this is Kyle. I sit by him at school," Briar introduced.

"Hi Kyle, I'm Briar's mom, Jo," she said looking between the other boy and his father.

"I'm Eric, Kyle's dad and this is Kyra," the man explained gesturing to a girl a few years older than Briar and Kyle. "It's nice to meet you," he added. Jo nodded in acknowledgement. "You must be new to the neighborhood," Eric observed as the two young boys talked excitedly beside their parents.

"Um yeah, we moved in a couple months ago. We moved here from Iowa. My husband just started a job at Seattle Grace; he's a surgeon," Jo filled the neighbor in. His eyebrows shot up and she could see the confusion on his face obviously adding up what he thought must be a very large age difference between the couple. Jo chuckled, "He's a surgical intern," she corrected, "but that's still a surgeon right?" The man's face relaxed a bit. "And what do you do?" she questioned him trying to gloss over the awkward exchange.

"I'm a ferry boat pilot. I work the night shift so I can be home with the kids during the day. My wife, Amy, works at a bakery downtown; she's home at night. We don't see each other much, but it's better than paying for a babysitter," he said.

"I know that feeling," Jo sympathized. She looked down to where Briar was tugging on her hand and raised questioning eyebrows to him.

"Kyle asked if I could play at his house. Can I, please?" the little voice begged.

"Well, I guess it would be okay," she answered unsure having only just met the new family. Eric affirmed that it was okay if Briar came over. Jo told Briar to be home by 6:30 for supper and the adults exchanged phone numbers. "Remember, Daddy is coming home tonight," Jo told her son as she grabbed his backpack and turned to go back to her own house. Alex was at the end of another 48 hour shift.

As had become habit, Izzie invited Alex out for a drink after work, "You did great today, Alex, you deserve to celebrate. Come to Joe's with us."

And as always he declined, "Going home," he mumbled on his way out of the locker room.

Izzie sighed frustrated, "What do you think is going on with him?" She asked the other three interns. "He never comes out with us; he didn't even come to my party," she pouted.

Meredith rolled her eyes at the mention of the party and snarked, "Maybe he has a secret girlfriend he doesn't want us to know about." She smirked to herself at the irritated look that crossed Izzie's face as she scoffed. Meredith had gotten just the reaction she was hoping for.

George shook his head, "Why wouldn't he want us to know he had a girlfriend? She could hang out with us too."

Cristina's eyes danced and she said conspiratorially, "Maybe it's not a girlfriend. Maybe he has a secret boyfriend."

They all snickered when Izzie protested loudly, "No way! I know that man is not gay."

Cristina continued on, "What could it be? Why would someone want to hide a relationship? Huh? What do you think, Mer?"

Meredith glared at her supposed best friend, "How the hell should I know? I don't know him any better than you guys do."

Izzie shook her head as they made their way out of the hospital, "It's something else. He isn't in a relationship and he isn't gay, I know that," she insisted, "but there is something and I will find out." She was determined to win him over.