Jo was nervous. More nervous than she had been in a long time. Immediately she was catapulted back in the ether of her childhood when she would meet a foster family for the first time. The insecure uncertainty along with anticipation and excitement. This time, she was on the other side as the parental figure. To be honest this was a perspective she had never even considered.

She was meeting his kids. It was surreal to be meeting her husband's five-year olds for the first time. She felt jittery and excited but scared that they wouldn't like her. Her worst fear would be to become the evil stepmom from Cinderella.

Alex wasn't worried, though. He was convinced that they would love her and that Jo would get comfortable with the kids rather quickly.

But Alex's encouraging words did nothing to help calm her anxiety. Jo wanted to make a good impression. She wanted these kids to like her and eventually, with a lot of patience and time, maybe even love her. So, she did what any nervous girl meeting the family would do and called for reinforcements.

Within the hour, Meredith and Amelia walked into Jo's hospital room with bags of clothes, makeup, and hair styling tools. Amelia wiggled her brows, "You know, you'd think you were going on a hot date with the amount of stuff you asked us to bring."

"Leave her alone," Meredith smiled. "She's meeting her husband's kids for the first time. She's allowed to be nervous. I think it's sweet."

"I just... I don't want to look scary," Jo confessed candidly. "Their mom died a week ago and I don't want seeing me in a hospital bed, gown, and injured to trigger them in anyway. So, I need your help to shower and get ready."

Amelia's face softened, "Of course."

"Alright then!" Meredith clapped. "Amelia, help Jo out of the bed. Jo, time to strip."

They laughed and got to work making Jo look less sick. Amelia gasped as Jo took off the hospital gown, "Your belly is so cute and small! When I was fifteen weeks, I was already showing a lot, but your belly is so cute and tiny."

"Perks of having a retroverted uterus," Jo joked. "It's helping me hide my pregnancy from my idiot husband."

Amelia and Meredith were careful with her incisions and helped her wash her hair. It was strange for Jo. Shuffled from home to home as a child, she rarely got this level of care and attention. These few months had really shown her how fortunate and supportive her world was now. It felt amazing to know that she had a family that loved her and cared enough to do something like help her bathe. Before Alex, Jo had never known this level of care and reverence. Nowadays, her life was overflowing with people who were there for her in various ways.

After about an hour, Jo had showered, washed her hair, changed into a nicer night gown and leggings, had her makeup done and hair styled. Meredith and Amelia helped her back into bed and positioned the covers around her. Reaching out for her makeup bag, she held up a mirror and wrinkled her face in worry, "I look nice right? I don't look like the strange, mean lady that's trying to replace their mom, right?"

"No you don't," Meredith chuckled. "You look beautiful. The twins are funny and sweet. You will like them and they will like you. There might be rocky moments but in the end I'm confident you will win them over."

"I agree," Amelia nodded. "Kids like those two make me less worried about becoming a mom."

Meredith, who'd been putting Jo's things away into various hospital drawers, turned around, "Do you think you'll be okay here on your own for a bit? Alex said he was going to bring the kids to the hospital in an hour after they're done eating ice cream with Amber and Helen."

"Yeah. I'll be okay."

Just as they were going to leave, Amelia grabbed a pillow and handed it to Jo, "Here. Use this the cover the bump."

"Thanks."

Meanwhile, Alex was enjoying seeing his kids with their Grandma Helen. It was pretty surreal. For the past seven years, whenever he thought of children, he thought about going through pregnancy and all the stages after with Jo. Since Jo didn't have parents and Alex had been estranged from his family for a while, he never thought he'd see this. If anything, he pictured his kids having various aunts and a few uncles that were really just family friends. Their "cousins" would be Mer's kids and Sofia, Harriet, Tuck, and now Link and Amelia's kid. He never thought they'd get the chance at this. He hadn't even dared to dream of such possibilities. But here he was, watching his Mom entertain some of the strongest, sweetest, most fearless kids he knew. He'd be lying if he said it didn't make his eyes water.

Alex felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see his sister smiling at him, "You know, it doesn't surprise me to see you this way. Not in the slightest. You were always so good with Aaron and I as kids. You were the parent, and even though you haven't been around for a while now, I know I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for you."

He brought his sister into a hug, "I'm proud of you, kid. And you know, now that you're in Portland, you can come visit whenever you want. I'd say we could come visit you but, taking two hyperactive kids on a road trip is not exactly what Jo and I would consider a good time."

Amber made a face, "Two kids, huh?"

"Yeah," Alex furrowed his brows. "They're twins. Of course, there's two of them."

"Yes, I think I know what twins are," Amber rolled her eyes. "I'm an OB resident, you know."

"Okay then…" Alex shook his head. His sister was acting weird. Well, honestly, he couldn't really tell if she was acting out of the ordinary because he hadn't really seen much of her in the past twelve years.

"Do they know who they're going to meet?" Amber asked.

"Yeah," Alex nodded. "When I first met them, they asked me why I hadn't been around. Apparently before I arrived, Izzie sat them down and explained that I didn't know about them and that sometimes Mommies and Daddies don't live together. That's when she told them I was married. They started asking me questions about Jo, so I told them stories of how we met and became friends, how long we had been together, and the basics like her name, age, job. I showed them pictures and videos of our wedding day and of the Grey Sloan family. It was a good distraction for them. It made Izzie smile, too. She felt good knowing that the kids were going to grow up with a woman like Jo raising them. She told me that I did good, and that Jo was out of my league—which I completely agree with."

Amber laughed, "She wasn't wrong. Jo is great, Alex. I don't know what you did to find someone like her, but you must've done something right."

When it was time to go, Alex said bye to Amber and his Mom who were on their way back to Meredith's house. He helped the kids into the car and strapped them into their car seats. He hopped into the driver's seat and turned on the family friendly radio station. Alex turned around to look at the twins, "Okay, you guys. So, we are going to go meet Jo now. Remember, I told you she got hurt so she's been in the hospital. That's why you haven't met her yet. When we get there, you are going to have to be very careful. She's really excited to meet you guys."

"Daddy," Alexis called out. "What if Miss Jojo don't like us? Will you have to go away like Mommy did? Will we hafta find new parwents again?"

"No, sweetheart," Alex's eyes softened. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going away. I'm going to be around so often that you two are going to get sick of me."

"Mmmkayyyy," Alexis giggled. "But whatta.. whatta if she's like the Evil Step-Mama from Cindewella or the mean lady in Wapunzel?"

"Thewres no such thing as Evil Step-Mamas, Lex. Them's just in faiwytales and movies. Stuff like that don't happen in weal life," Eli rolled his eyes and sighed dreamily. "I think Josie's gonna be nice. She looks nice. She's weally pwetty, too."

Sensing his son had a mini crush on his wife, Alex laughed, "She sure is, kiddo."

After a few minutes of silence, Alexis mustered to courage to finally ask what she's most curious about, "Is Jo going to be our new Mommy?"

Alex knew it was only a matter of time for this topic to come up. He knew he'd have to address this sooner or later, "Look, your Mommy will always be your Mommy."

"Even though she died?" Eli asked.

"Yes," Alex replied. "Just because Mommy is gone doesn't mean that she isn't your Mommy anymore. She will always be your Mother and you'll always love and miss her. But now that you're living with Daddy, you get a super special bonus Mama. Besides you rugrats, she is Daddy's favorite person in the whole wide world and she is so excited to have us all live together. It might take some time to get to know her but she loves you so much already. You don't have to call her Mommy if you don't want to. She might do some similar things as your Mommy that's gone and though I'm sure she would love that name too, it's all up to you."

Satisfied with their Dad's answer, the kids changed the subject to lighter things. They spent the rest of the car ride playing iSpy and singing the songs on the radio off the top of their lungs. Eli and Alexis sang and played all the way until the moment when Alex parked the car in the hospital parking lot. He exited the car and helped both kids out of their booster seats. Once all unpacked, he grabbed each of their hands and lead them into the building.

The walk up to Jo's room was the strange new normal. Everywhere he went, people stopped to comment on how cute his kids were. He couldn't deny it or blame them. His kids were pretty cute. Many of the nurses stopped and said hi to the him and kids, waving and exchanging kind words. As he approached the door, he paused and looked at his kids, "Okay. You guys ready."

The twins exchanged a look, "Yes."

Inside the room, Jo—who'd been reading a book—heard a knock on the door. The door opened and she saw Alex. She took a deep breath, "Hey."

"Hey," he smiled. "Jo, I'd like you to meet Eli and Alexis."

Jo closed her book and felt the air catch in her throat as the twins walked into her room. She doesn't really know why or how, but the moment she saw them, she knew she would love them for the rest of her life. Suddenly she thought back to the conversation she had over a month and a half ago with Meredith when she first found out she was pregnant.

"Something happens when you see your kid for the first time–whether it's a sonogram or adoption–when the rest of the world fades away and you know in that moment that you don't belong to yourself anymore, but this kid that you don't even know."

Jo couldn't possibly understand why she was so worried. Although she hadn't given birth to them and she had never met them, these kids were her kids. She put the book in her hand down on the pillow covering her midsection and gave the twins a bright smile, "Hi. My name is Jo. It's so nice to finally meet you. Would it be okay for me to hug you?"

Alexis—the more timid of the pair who'd been worried that her new stepmother would be mean and scary—gasped when she saw her Father's wife sitting up in the bed with a book on her lap. To Lex, Jo looked just like the princesses in her stories. Her wariness dissipated. She let go of her Father's hand and strode confidently up to the bed and gave Jo a tight squeeze, "Hi Jo!"

Jo felt tears fill her eyes as she hugged the small girl back, "Oh! Hi, Baby girl."

Letting go of Jo, Alexis tugged sought Alex's attention by tugging on his pant leg, "Daddy! You didn't tell us that Jo is a pwincess. She looks just like Belle in Beauty and da Beast!"

Jo and Alex laughed, remembering the nickname Alex used so many years ago before he got to know Jo. Alex ruffled Alexis' hair, "She does, doesn't she? I've always thought she was a princess."

Eli—who'd actually been quite excited to meet Jo—grew a little shy. Peeking out from behind his Dad, he gave her a small wave, "Hi… I'm Eli."

"Hi Eli," Jo waved back. "Are those the Avengers on your shirt? I love the Avengers. Who's your favorite superhero?"

Eli perked up when he realized that Jo knew all about superheroes. It was hard to choose a favorite though and he took the question to heart. After a moment he muttered "Um… Thwor!"

"Thor? You know… I have a friend who kind of looks like Thor. Maybe he can play superhero with you and Bailey."

"For weals!?" Eli's eyes lit up as he jumped up and down.

"Yup," Jo chuckled. "Maybe we can find it on Disney+ and we'll watch it together."

"Okay!" Eli clapped his hands.

"Can we watch Beauty and the Beast, too?" Alexis begged Jo with wide eyes.

"Sure," Jo smiled. "We'll watch it and sing all of the songs, too."