AN: Of course one of them had to be set in the Karev Family Chronicles and I do not own any of Taylor Swift's music or the lyrics to Paper Rings.
Jo was curled up in bed, her knees up propping up the medical journal she was reading as she flipped through it. It was late enough that the moonlight was streaming in through the skylights rather than the windows, but still, she stayed up. It was mostly because she had gotten lost in her reading, but also because Alex wasn't home yet. For some reason, tonight she didn't want to sleep without him. In his place was their puppy Reeses, fast asleep and curled up next to her. She knew she should put him in his crate for the night, but without Alex there the bed was too empty.
She looked over at the books on his nightstand and how she knew them all by heart. She remembered the day they met at the hospital how he turned to her with his smile and smooth words, but then treated her like the intern that she was and filled her day with scutt. He was the rude playboy of the hospital, and she was determined not to end up like her friends and sleep with him. Yet here she was sleeping in their bed waiting up for him because she had fallen in love with him and married him. Oh, how wrong young intern Jo was.
She took a sip of the wine in her glass. It was still cold in her hand and the condensation collected in little droplets of water that dripped from her fingers onto the bedding. It felt nice against her sore hands from a day full of surgery. She must have done a thousand stitches with delicate suturing and, of course, cutting. Yet, general surgery didn't seem as exciting as it did before, she wanted more, but she wasn't quite sure what she wanted.
Finally, Jo heard the familiar click of the lock in the loft's door before it slid open. Recess for all his worth didn't even stir and kept sleeping next to her. She didn't look up and continued reading. She couldn't see him through the shelving anyway. She heard him groan as he set his stuff down and shuffled around, grumpy as ever. She put down her wine glass, knowing Alex would make her spill it when he got into bed. He continued to grumble as he made his way around the loft. The bed dipped next to her, and Alex snuck his head in her lap, blocking her reading. As she let go of the journal, he smiled up at her. The grumpiness of the day melted away as he stared at her. He had that little crooked grin that she loved so much. She ran her fingers through the little tufts of brown hair around his ear, curling her finger around one of the longer strands.
"Hi," Alex said, just staring up at her and smiling.
"Hello," Jo said, she couldn't help us smile back because she loved this man, oh so very much.
He finally moved and crawled up her body and put one hand on either side of her waist before he leaned in to kiss her. It was a quick and soft kiss against her lips before he pulled back, only to lean and kiss her again and pull back and kiss her a third time.
Jo hummed against his lips as he lingered the last time. "Three kisses, must be a special night?"
"Well, once because it's been a long night, twice because I want you to know that I love you, and three times because I've waited my whole life for you," Alex said, smiling up at her with this look of complete love and adoration for her. Jo smiled and blushed because she was still a little overwhelmed by his love for her sometimes.
"Back to writing greeting cards again, is this one going to have a brown pony or a white one on it?" Jo teased him as Alex laughed, and she pulled him in to kiss him again, just because she could. "I love you."
"I love you too," Alex said as he reached up to hold her face as he kissed her again. They couldn't seem to stop kissing each other.
"How was your shift?" Jo asked in between kisses. "I haven't seen you since lunch?"
Alex sighed as he buried his face in her chest, his favorite place to be. He pushed her tank top down to lay on her bare skin and mumbled something. Jo looked down at him and narrowed her eyes. Something was up, she was sure of it. She pushed on his shoulder, forcing him to sit back, and he plastered on a smile as he rubbed the back of his neck. Jo crossed her arms and glared at him. She waited for him to explain himself, but he didn't.
"Spit it out, Alexander."
His eyes went wide at the use of his full name, but he stopped avoiding her and held up his left hand. "I lost my ring."
Her anger dropped as she reached out to hold his hand and stared at the tan line of the empty space on his hand. "Oh no, how did you lose it?"
"I took it off for surgery and put it on top of the scrub sink, but then the patient's heart rate dropped, and I just rushed in and forgot it. Then when I went to get it after surgery, it wasn't there. I looked everywhere in the scrub room, and I even got the others to help, but no luck. I asked the cleaning crew to keep an eye out for it, though."
Alex's lips tugged down in a frown just for a moment before he tried to play it off, but she could tell that he was upset that he lost it.
"I'm sorry, Alex," Jo said, reaching out to hold his face as he tilted his head into her hands. "I'll keep an eye out for it too."
Alex gave her a nod as he looked down at his empty ring finger. Jo knew how much the ring meant to him. As much as he loved saying that she was his wife, he loved wearing the ring that she had picked out for him. It was a symbol of their love and commitment to each other, and it was something for everyone to see that he was hers. Plus, it kept the ped's moms from hitting on him.
Jo reached over to her nightstand, picked up a post-it note, and folded it into a thin line. She then wrapped it around her thumb in a circle before twisting it into a sturdy ring. Alex looked confused at first but quickly caught on to what she was doing and held out his hand for her.
"Well, lucky for you, I'd marry you with paper rings," Jo said as she finished, she slipped the paper ring onto his finger.
A smile spread across his face as he looked down at the paper ring. He smiled so wide and let out a little chuckle. His eyes sparkled as she could tell how happy he was. She loved his happy smile and not the one he just put on to be pleasant. This was his genuine smile and she smiled too because she loved it.
Alex leaned in to kiss her again, and it was slow and lazy as he lingered on her lips before he slowly melted down to bury his head in her chest again. She gave a light chuckle as she ran her fingers through his hair and massaged his scalp. He settled on her chest, turning his head so he could actually breathe and not get smothered as he laid his head on her heart. She felt the weight of him settle on her as he fell asleep, completely content on top of her.
Jo just smiled as she continued to run her fingers through his hair. Now that Alex was home, she decided to finally go to bed as well and put the journal on her nightstand. She should put Reeses to bed or at least get him off the bed, so he didn't wake them up in the middle of the night. However, with Alex's weight on her, she knew she couldn't move, not that she minded. His weight was like a warm weighted blanket on top of her and his lips against her skin were soft and full of love.
She looked over at the photo of them on her nightstand. It was them in the NICU together when they were just friends. The picture frame glittered in the lamplight as she reached to turn off the light. She loved how they started out as friends before they fell in love. She felt like she got to know him without the pressure of a relationship. She loved joking with him and drinking with him. They still did that even now.
"I love you so much, Alex. You're the only man I ever want," Jo whispered as she settled in and ran her fingers through his hair as she closed her eyes.
Kiss me once 'cause you know I had a long night (Oh) Kiss me twice 'cause it's gonna be alright (Uh) Three times 'cause I waited my whole life, I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings Uh-huh, that's right Darling, you're the one I want, and I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this, Uh huh, that's right Darling, you're the one I want.
"How did we get roped into this," Jo asked as she sat up on the plastic covered bed and poked the paint pan with her shoe.
"We didn't get roped into anything," Alex said as he put the roller back in the pan, picking up the paint before rolling the excess off and applying the Captain America blue color to the wall. "I told Meredith I would help her and you insisted on tagging along."
"Well, what else am I supposed to do on our only day off for the next week? I thought I would be spending it in bed with my husband and not on a child's bed," Jo said as she sat back on the plastic covered bed, holding herself up with one arm.
Alex chuckled as he continued to paint the wall. They had done three out of the four walls of Bailey's bedroom while the rest of the furniture was either temporarily stored in the hall or covered with plastic in the middle of the room. Maggie and Winston had taken the kids out, and Amelia, Link, Meredith, Jo, and Alex were all supposed to be redoing Bailey's room with a Captain America theme for his birthday tomorrow. However, Amelia and Link were running late from picking up the new furniture and decor, and Meredith had gotten called into surgery. That left Jo and Alex to finish painting the room.
"Why don't you go lay down in Meredith's room?" Alex said, pausing again to refill the paint roller and glancing over at her.
"No, I'm not tired," Jo said despite how she covered her mouth as she yawned.
"Oh really, because for the past week, you've been taking a nap around lunchtime," Alex said as he rolled the paint roller up and down the wall and Jo got lost watching the smooth movement.
"I'm a surgeon, I'm working long hours, and my schedule has been off," Jo said as she yawned again. She tried to keep her eyes open, but she laid back on the bed and curled up.
"Maybe we should go outside and hop in the fountain downtown. That'll wake you up," Alex said with a smirk as he turned back to glance at her again as he referenced the one time they had jumped into the fountain at the hospital.
"That was a one-time thing. I'm not a polar bear," Jo said as she rolled her eyes at him and sat up, determined to stay awake.
It was midwinter and they were both exhausted from a 24-hour overtime shift and they had to be back at work in an hour. They decided to take a plunge in the cold water fountain to wake themselves up. It worked, although the warm shower they shared afterward was what Jo remembered most fondly.
She leaned back again as Alex went back to painting the wall and they both sat in familiar silence. The only sound was the paint sloshing in the pan and the sound of the roller up and down the wall. She thought about the day that they had painted the Loft. It was just one wall and the bathroom, but it was nice to paint a home that was theirs. They had never painted Meredith's house when they lived there, but putting the color on the walls of the Loft was a permanent symbol of their residency, and it made the Loft a home. However, they were outgrowing their Loft, and they needed a bigger place to live if they wanted to adopt Luna.
She thought about the house that they had put an offer on. They both agreed that they needed a proper house with walls and a backyard. They had fallen in love with this particular bungalow style house with a tire swing in the backyard, a large window in the kitchen, and a fireplace in the living room. Alex said they could hang stockings for Santa and make Christmas special for their kids, but she also thought about the small bedroom right next to the master bedroom. They had thought the one across the hall could be for Luna, but the smaller room was warm and intimate and the perfect size.
"I like the blue for Luna's room, but we should paint the baby's nursery something more gender-neutral. I like your mom's idea of using purple or green or even a light yellow. If we did a light green and then make a tree bookshelf or something and make it into a jungle theme."
Alex put the roller back into the paint pan and looked over at her. He had that big happy smile that he always got and they talked about having a baby. "I'd like that a lot, but we have to actually buy the house first and the kitchen…"
"The kitchen is fine, Alex," Jo said with a sigh, it was the argument they had been having all week. "All we have to do is paint the cabinets and put in new appliances. It's not like we can't keep the refrigerator from The Loft. The repairman said he could fix it."
"I know, I just want it to be perfect, you know. When I bought Meredith's place I just, I thought it would be my family home. The place where I would meet my wife, and I did," Alex said, taking a second to look back at her as they exchanged a smile. "And you would move in and we would have kids together in that house. Then Meredith asked for her house back, and I figured I had to because it was her home first, and I didn't mind it."
Alex put down the paint roller and looked around the room. Jo understood because she too once imagined making this house their family home. It was their first home together, the place she went to feel safe with him, and where they started their relationship. It would always be the place where they could go and be with family, but it was Meredith's home, not theirs. The Loft was their home, but as their family got bigger, they needed a larger and more permanent space.
"And I love the Loft. Moving there was the right step for us. When you offered to move into the Loft, I thought it would be a great place for us for a couple of years. You know, just the two of us in our own little newlywed home. I figured we'd stay for a couple of years and then get a family home, and now we're trying to adopt Luna and have more kids. I just, I don't want to have to move again or have to move them. I was moved around my entire childhood and I don't want that for our kids. I want that house to be perfect. They're gonna learn to walk in that house, they're going to have breakfast and get ready for school in the kitchen, and they're going to grow up in those bedrooms, and do their homework at the dining room table. I want to make sure that they're able to do that before we move in."
Alex looked back at her and Jo nodded because she did know. She moved around so much during her younger years. Seattle was the first city she had ever stayed in for more than a few years. She wanted a home where their kids could grow up and never have to worry about moving or where they would go next. Of course, she wanted the house to be perfect too, but more importantly, she wanted to be settled in the house.
"I know that too. That's why I want to move into the house sooner rather than later. I know it's not perfect, but it's perfect for us, and we could renovate it and make it into something great like we did with the Loft. It can be our family home. Our kids could grow up swinging on the tire swing in the backyard. The bedroom across the hall could be Luna's room and we could put the nursery next to the master bedroom. I know we're approved to have Luna at the Loft, but I don't want to have to move with her and a newborn. It's going to take at least a month to close on the house and get all the reservations done, and I want to have this done soon because we only have eight and a half months before the baby comes. That doesn't leave us much time to work on the nursery, but maybe we could get it done on time if our friends helped out. Meredith is gonna owe us for this, so I'm sure she could help us with the nursery?"
"Don't worry about it. We have plenty of time to make it our dream house and build a nursery," Alex said with a chuckle as he picked up the roller and started to paint the wall again.
"Alex, weren't you listening to me? I said we only had eight and a half months before the baby comes," Jo said with a smirk as she watched him freeze.
The paint dripped from the paint roller onto the plastic tarp and his converse. Alex just stood there, facing the wall. Jo stifled a laugh as he turned around, swinging the roller as paint flew everywhere. Thankfully the tarp covered everything and he only managed to sprinkle paint on her shirt.
"Eight and a half months?" Alex asked, still staring at her like he didn't quite believe it.
"34 weeks technically, which would put me at 6 weeks along," Jo said, putting a hand on her belly. She just smiled and bit her lip as she watched him.
She could see the way his mind slowly processed it. This was everything that he ever wanted and she was giving it to him. Watching him stare at her in shock was the most adorable and amazing thing. She was so excited to tell him. She imagined that he would be so excited that he would jump for joy and scream and shout until all of the neighbors knew. But this look of shock and amazement as he stared at her, that was pretty great too.
"You're pregnant?"
"Yes."
"You have a baby in you?" Alex asked, sputtering his words as he put the paint roller down. "I put a baby in you?"
"Yes," Jo said with a laugh. "I'm pretty sure that's how it works. Your little Karev baby is inside me right now, yours and mine, our baby. A little boy or girl. Although I feel like it's a girl, I don't know why, but I keep dreaming of a little girl."
"Oh no, it's definitely going to be a boy," Alex said with a smirk as he finally seemed to snap out of it and made his way over to her and kneeled in front of her. "It'll be the universe's own personal revenge for my own youth."
"I don't know, you turned into a pretty great guy, and I'd love it if our kid was exactly like you. I imagine a little baby with your crooked smile and your brown curls and your honey brown eyes that looked at me like I hold the universe in my hands," Jo said with a sigh as Alex gave her that exact look.
"I hope they're as smart as you are. I hope that they have your strength and your perseverance. I hope they laugh like you do because I love the sound of your laughter," Alex said as she laughed and he just smiled at her. "I hope that they're exactly like you."
Jo put her hands on either side of his face and pulled him into a kiss. She kissed him once because she was so excited to have a baby with him. Then she pulled back only to kiss him again because everything was going to be alright, and then she kissed him a third time because she had waited her whole life for someone to love her like Alex loved her.
"We're having a baby," Alex smiled when she pulled back as he reached down to put a hand on her belly. It was a little strange at first, but it was comforting to have his hands on her.
"We are having a baby," Jo said in excitement, she was so happy about this, and she couldn't wait to be a mom and to build a home with him.
"Oh my god, I've got to call the realtor. We have to get that house," Alex said as he quickly scrambled to pull his phone out of his pocket and immediately called the realtor.
Jo watched as he panicked and told her that they really needed this house because they were having a baby, not even bothering to keep the pregnancy a secret. He went quiet as a realtor talked and Jo couldn't read the look on his face. Suddenly his face lit up and he smiled as he glanced over at her.
"We got the house," Alex whispered to her.
"We got the house?" Jo asked just to be sure.
"Yeah, we got the house," Alex said as he hung up the phone and wrapped his arms around her. "We got our dream house. The house that our kids are going to grow up in."
"We have our home," Jo said as she pulled him in and kissed him again.
In the winter, in the icy outdoor pool when you jumped in first, I went in too. I'm with you even if it makes me blue. Which takes me back to the color that we painted your brother's wall. So, kiss you once 'cause I know you had a long night. Kiss you twice 'cause it's gonna be alright. Three times 'cause you waited your whole life.
Alex hated Mondays. Especially Mondays on sunny summer days where he had to go to work instead of spending the day with his wife and their girls. He had been grumpy all day and even the kids at the hospital had complained. All of his cases have been tough and terrible and it felt like there was a rain cloud solely for him while the rest of Seattle was in the happy summer sun. However, the moment he walked through the door of their home and dropped his bags in the entryway, he heard the footsteps of his three little sunny girls as they raced over to greet him. With Reeses running behind them as the four of them all raced to see who would get to him first.
"Daddy!" Luna, Helena, and Edith shouted as they raced towards him, leaping off the step down into the entryway and throwing themselves into his arms.
No matter how bad his day was, Alex could never keep a smile off his face when his girls greeted him with such excitement the moment he walked through the door. He let himself hold them just for a second longer before he set them down and pulled back to smile at them. Of course, he couldn't forget how Reeses always faithfully greeted him at the door. The old dog waited patiently as he sat at his feet, his tail pounding the hardwood, as he waited for his turn. Alex reached down and pet his head, letting Reeses nose nozzle his knee and get drool all over his pants.
"How are all my princesses today?" Alex asked turning back to his girls. "All dressed up, I see. Have we got something special going on tonight?"
The three girls were dressed in their white ballet costumes with fluffy white tutus complete with fake jewelry and matching flower wreaths crowns. They also wore those plastic little princess shoes that clopped around on the hardwood floor, yet somehow they still managed to run around in them all day.
"We're having a wedding," Helena announced, the five-year-old was absolutely giddy as she wiggled from where she stood.
"We wanted to do it on the ferry boat, but Mommy said we couldn't go on one, so we just decorated the living room instead," Luna explained as the six-year-old pulled on Alex's hand and led him into the living room.
"It's a big wedding," Edith said, they're three-year-old was equally as excited as they all giggled.
"Oh, a wedding, so who's getting married?" Alex asked as he walked down the hall into the open living room of their home. The girls had decorated it with lots of white lace and white sheets as well, with the contents of their dress-up box scattered across the living room.
"Mama," Edith said as Alex set her down on the couch.
"You and Mommy, Daddy," Helena said as she raced over to grab his blue wedding tie and give it to him as he smiled.
He pulled off his usual tie and replaced it with his wedding tie. He still liked wearing his suits around the hospital when he wasn't in his scrubs. Although he usually changed the second he got home, as it would instantly get soiled from the mess of his three girls.
"Yeah, we're doing it in half an hour, Daddy," Luna said as she picked up her clipboard, as she clearly had the whole thing planned out. "So be ready soon, please."
"Yes, ma'am," Alex said as he watched the girls go back to talking about how they were preparing the room for the wedding ceremony.
They suddenly realized that they needed flowers and raced out to the backyard to pick some of the daisies that were blooming along the side of the fence. They also picked some of the clovers and dandelions that were growing in the yard. As soon as they raced back in and started to put the daisies on Reeses' head, Alex decided to go find his wife.
He found his lovely bride-to-be hiding out in the pantry facing away from him as she leaned forward to rifle through the shelves. Alex came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, although he couldn't quite get them around the circumference of her 29 week pregnant belly. His son greeted him with a series of excited kicks that Alex knew he had been giving Jo all day.
"Thank God you're home," Jo said as she leaned back into his arms and Alex took her weight as she rested against him.
"Long day," Alex asked as he started slowly swaying back and forth, gently holding her and her belly as he kissed the side of her head.
"The girls just seem to have endless energy today," Jo said as she closed her eyes and hummed as his lips met her skin, fully relaxing against him. "I took them to the park twice, and they're still bouncing off the walls, and this one has decided to use my kidneys as punching bags and my bladder as a trampoline. Thankfully we have all of the carpets put away since we're potty training Edith because I've had two accidents today."
"Well, I'm home now, so why don't I finish dinner and entertain the girls, and you can go lay down?" Alex said as Jo turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck and she leaned in to properly kiss him.
"I'd love that, but I think our girls would be rather disappointed if their Mommy was a runaway bride," Jo said as she opened her eyes to smile at him.
"Yeah, what's with all this wedding stuff?"Alex asked as he easily smiled back at her.
"I showed them our wedding album. They absolutely loved it, but they were a little disappointed that they weren't present for our wedding, so they insisted that we have a redo so that they could be a part of it."
Alex laughed and leaned in to kiss her again. "Are you gonna put on your bloodstained wedding dress?"
"Ha, I can't fit into that dress anymore, not since you knocked me up again!" Jo scoffed as she pulled back to put her hand on her back as she showed off her belly. "Oh Jo, let's have sex right after my vasectomy. There's no way you'll get pregnant, ra ra ra ra."
"Your impression of me has clearly not gotten better since we got married," Alex said, holding back another laugh as Jo glared at him.
Jo pushed the box of wild rice into his chest. "It's your turn to make dinner and entertain the kids. I need a break."
He watched her waddle away and he couldn't help but smile at her. However, when she turned to glare at him, he busied himself with reading the instructions on the box of rice. Jo collapsed on the couch while Reeses curled up with her and the girls planned the wedding around her. He went over to the kitchen and started the rice before getting the girls' attention and helping them with their wedding plans.
Their plan seemed quite elaborate, and soon enough, the three of them had everything set up and were pulling Jo off the couch to take her upstairs. Alex pulled out the roasted broccoli and cauliflower out of the oven and put them on the table to cool next to the chicken and the wild rice. Since they had the girls, the two of them had made an effort to learn how to cook and although they weren't the best cooks, they had a couple dozen dishes they could make pretty well.
With dinner done and his girls occupied, Alex took the opportunity to slip away down the hall into the office they had at the front of the house. Reeses picked up his head from where he was lying under the table, avoiding the chaos, and followed Alex into the room. The office was mostly just their grown-up space, where they kept the things they didn't want the girls getting into, along with some work stuff and official documents. Alex grabbed his spare shaving kit from his work bag and went over to the bathroom. A few minutes later, he heard the sound of little footsteps as one of the girls came down the stairs.
"Daddy, where are you?" Helena called out down the hall.
"I'll be out in a second, Lena," Alex said as he ran the warm rag over his shorted stubble.
Anytime he wanted to look nice for Jo or the girls, he would shave or trim his beard. The girls thought it was weird when he was clean shaven and Jo always liked him with a little bit of scruff. She once said that she liked it because it made him look ruggedly handsome and because it tickled her thighs.
"But Daddy!" Helena complained, dragging out his name as she sometimes dragged her feet on the floor. "We're ready for you now."
"Yes, but I'm patient with you in the mornings, so I'm asking you to be patient with me now," Alex said as he finished up.
Helena huffed, but patiently waited outside the door for him. He washed the razor and put it away before looking in the mirror one last time as he fixed his tie. Then he grabbed one of the extra clip-on bow ties that he had and attached it to Reese's collar. With the two boys all dressed up, he came out of the bathroom. Helena was sitting against the wall, clapping her tiny little plastic shoes together. She gasped and her mouth formed into a tiny o when she saw him. Of all of their girls, Helena looked most like Jo, and her expression was the same one that Jo got when she was excited.
"What do you think, Princess? Do Daddy and Reeses clean up nice?" Alex asked as he stood up straighter and buttoned his suit jacket.
"Ah hum, you look very handsome, just like in your picture," Helena said as she held up the picture frame with one of their wedding photos. It was the one that he kept on his nightstand.
"Thank you," Alex said as he pulled her up and offered her his hand as they walked back down the hall and into the empty living room. "Now, where is my lovely bride?"
"Mommy's upstairs cuz you're not supposed to see the bride before the wedding," Helena explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world as she pushed him over to stand next to the fireplace. "Now stay here and we'll be down in a second."
"Okay," Alex said as he stood against the fireplace and watched her race back up the stairs.
He and Reese's dutifully stood next to each other by the fireplace as they waited for their girls. He couldn't keep the smile off his face and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't excited to see everything the girls had planned. He would never turn down the opportunity to marry Jo again. Soon enough, he could hear the giggles of his daughters as they all gathered at the top of the stairs. Eventually, Luna came down and leaned over the railing.
"Hey, Google play the orchestra wedding march," Luna said as the speaker responded and started playing the music. As the music played, all three of the girls came down the stairs one at a time, spreading the flower petals as they went and giggling with glee.
Alex smiled as he watched them. Luna came first, then Edith and then Helena, and they all embodied such happiness as they walked over to him. They all looked so beautiful in their white dresses with flower petals that stuck to their hair. He tried not to get choked up as he envisioned what they would look like on their wedding days if they choose to get married. Once they were all standing next to him, they all looked back to the stairs as Jo's feet stepped down onto the steps. Before she took another step, the music paused, and she changed it to a slow live cover of Taylor Swift's Paper Rings.
Jo looked down at the steps as she descended down the stairs one foot at a time. As she walked, she held the skirt of the white lace sundress she had changed into with the other hand on the railing. The white sundress floated around her and the girls had put some of the daisy petals in her hair.
He could feel time slow down as he watched her every move, and when she looked up at him and smiled, it took his breath away. Even while heavily pregnant, after three kids, and eight years of marriage, she was still the most beautiful woman in the world, and he was head over heels in love with her. Her eyes sparkled as she smiled and an easy, happy grin spread across his face. This was one of the things that he wished they had gotten on their wedding day. Watching Jo walk down to him was breathtaking. It was something that he missed out on with both of their weddings. Even though it was just them at their house, only slightly dressed up, he felt the same way he did on his wedding day all those years ago. He was so much in awe of her beauty and still so much in love with her.
She walked up to him and he reached out to take her hand and pull her in. He wrapped them around her hips as much as he could with her baby bump in between them as it pressed against his stomach. Their son greeted him with a few light fluttered kicks.
"You look amazing," Alex said as he leaned his forehead against hers.
"Thank you," Jo whispered as she smiled and her eyes fluttered close.
He leaned in to kiss her, but just as their lips touched, a roar of protest came from the girls as they all shrieked and Reeses barked. The girls pulled at their clothes, trying to get them apart.
"No, Mommy, no," Edith and Helena said as they tugged on Jo's arms.
"Daddy, no, you're not supposed to kiss the bride before you're married!" Luna shrieked as Alex finally pulled apart and he and Jo both laughed.
"Okay, okay," Alex said as he leaned back and took Jo's hands and his own. "So who's officiating this thing?"
"I am," Luna said as she held up her clipboard again.
"I'm the flower girl," Helena said as she wiggled back and forth in excitement, holding her basket of flower petals.
"And I'm the ring bear, roar," Edith said with a giggle as they all laughed. She was holding the box that held Jo's engagement ring for so long but now sat empty and his nightstand.
"And Reese's is your best man," Helena added giving his header a pat is he happily sat next to her.
"Ah-hem." Luna cleared her throat as she stood between them on the tile of the fireplace. She looked up at them and suddenly decided she was too short and ran over to grab a chair, as they all quietly watched as she brought it over.
As she was moving the chair over, Helena fluffed up Jo's dress as Edith tugged on his hand, quietly asking for the ring on his finger. He handed it over to her and she carefully put it in the ring box next to Jo's wedding rings.
Finally, Luna stood up on the chair and looked down at the little speech on her clipboard that Jo had written in her plain yet elegant handwriting. "Daddy, do you take Mommy to be your lawfully wedded wife? For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," Alex said, smiling at Jo. He was still as happy to say it as he was when he first married her.
"Mommy, do you take Daddy to be your lawfully wedded husband? For better or worse, for richer or poorer?"
"For richer or pregnant," Jo corrected her as she giggled and put a hand on her belly.
"That's what your Mommy said to me, the last time we got married, although she wasn't actually pregnant then," Alex moved to put his hands on her belly too, as they felt their son kick their hands.
"And then Daddy made quick work of that," Jo said, looking over at Helena as she winked at her, and the two of them shared a giggle.
"Mommy, stick to the script," Luna whispered to her, giving her a no-nonsense look.
"Okay, sorry," Jo said as she looked over at Alex raising her eyebrows at him. Neither of them knew where their girls got their sass, but they did spend a lot of time with their Auntie Amelia.
"In sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?" Luna finished giving them a big smile as she looked between the two of them.
"I super do," Jo said as she smiled at him using the exact same words that she had when they first got married.
"And now the rings," Edith said excitedly as she held up the box above her head for both of them.
"Yes, now give Mommy Daddy's ring," Luna instructed as Edith opened the box and Jo took out Alex's ring.
"I like Daddy's ring," Helena said as she watched Jo take a hold of it and Jo held it out for her to see. "It's simple and shiny."
"I like it too," Alex said as he looked down at it before glancing up at Jo as she smiled and held the ring against his finger.
"Mommy, repeat after me," Luna said, and she started again. "With this ring, I the wed."
"With this ring, I thee wed," Jo said as she slipped the ring onto his finger where it was supposed to be.
Alex took Jo's wedding ring from Edith as she closed the box with a snap, and Jo held out her hand, and Alex held the ring against her finger.
"Daddy repeat after me, with this ring I thee wed."
"With this ring, I thee wed," Alex said as he tried to slip the ring onto Jo's finger, but it got stuck right away.
"Oh no, how are you going to marry Mommy now?" Edith lamented as she stood up on her toes and leaned on Alex's arm.
"I just took it off a few hours ago to make dinner. How did they get so swollen so fast," Jo said in disappointment as she looked down at the ring on the tip of her finger.
"It's alright," Alex said as he looked around the room. He quickly spotted a pipe cleaner on the couch next to a few other paper crafts and wedding decorations, and he went over to grab it and quickly formed a ring. When he came back, it easily slipped onto Jo's finger. "Luckily for you, I'd marry you with paper rings."
"Daddy, that's a pipe cleaner," Helena said as she leaned over to whisper to him.
"Ah, same thing," Alex said as all of the girls laughed and Jo smiled down at her new ring.
"Are they married now?" Edith asked, jumping up on her toes and hanging off of Alex's arm.
"Not yet. They have to kiss first," Helena said as she leaned against Jo's side and wrapped her arms around her legs.
"Oh yeah, and then we get to throw more petals," Edith said with a giggle as she grabbed a handful in her fist.
"Shhh," Luna shushed them as she gave them a look before she looked down at the clipboard. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. Daddy, you may kiss the bride."
Alex smiled as he pulled Jo in and kissed her lips. They let themselves linger as they kissed, enjoying each other's lips. Jo wrapped her arms around his neck and put a hand on his cheek like she always did. He would never get tired of kissing her like this. Each kiss was full of magic and the same sparks that he felt when he first kissed her in the dark hallway of the hospital on that stormy night.
As they kissed, the girls shouted and laughed and Reeses barked and ran around them. The girls threw pedals that got in their hair and on their faces, and when they finally pulled back to catch their breath, he brushed a daisy petal off of Jo's cheek. Helena pulled out one of their phones and they took a bunch of pictures. However, Jo and Alex only saw the flash of the camera as they were lost in each other's eyes.
The excitement of their little wedding lingered throughout the night. It was all the girls could talk about as they ate dinner and got ready for bed. Alex kissed Edith's forehead and whispered goodnight to her as Jo picked her up and carried her to her room. She was already down for the count and fell asleep in the middle of the story. Reeses follow Jo out so she could put him in his crate in their bedroom, whenever Jo was pregnant Reeses was reluctant to leave her side. Alex tucked Helena into bed on the bottom bunk of the bunk beds that she shared with Luna in their room. Helena looked up at him through sleepy eyelashes, already half asleep as he brushed the curls out of her face.
"Sweet dreams, Princess," Alex said, kissing her forehead as she just mumbled a goodnight to him.
He stood up and leaned his arms over the railing of Luna's top bunk as she stared at him. "Daddy, I'm not tired at all. Can't I stay up a little bit longer with you and Mommy?"
"Well, truth be told, Mommy and I are probably going to go straight to bed. We're no fun at all these days," Alex said as he leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"Fine," she relented, her eyes fluttering and close as she let out a yawn.
"Goodnight," Alex said as he turned to walk out of the room and just as he was about to close the door, he heard her voice again.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah, Luna?" Alex whispered and he looked over as she rolled onto her side to look at him.
"I'm really happy that you married Mommy and that you adopted me and gave me two sisters and an almost brother. I love my family."
Alex's heart melted in his chest, and he smiled. Sometimes he wondered how they ended up with such perfect, wonderful daughters and he thanked his lucky stars every day. He felt Jo's arms wrapped around his waist as she snuggled up next to him.
"We love you too, Little Moon, and we're so happy that you're a part of our family too," Jo said, speaking for both of them.
Luna smiled and closed her eyes as she clutched her plush rocket ship close to her chest. Jo and Alex quietly shut the door behind them as they walked arm-in-arm back into their bedroom. They said goodnight to Reeses, although like Edith, he was already fast asleep as they closed the door on his kennel.
"What did we do to deserve her, or any of them," Alex asked, placing his hand on Jo's belly. Their son kicked his hand and he smiled as he leaned down to kiss her belly.
"I ask myself that every day," Jo said as she put her hands on his cheek and kissed him.
He smiled against her lips, enjoying her sweet and soft kiss, but when she pulled away, he pulled her back in again. He kissed her twice and then a third time before he finally pulled away.
"What was that for?" Jo said, opening her eyes and looking up at him with a soft smile.
"Once because it's been a long day, twice because I love you, and three times because I've waited my whole life to be married to you."
Jo smiled so big and wide and happily as she pulled him over to their bed and giggled, but then her smile turned into a smirk. "Have I mentioned that you should start writing poetry again?"
Alex let out a laugh remembering what she said to him when she was an intern. "I was trying to be sweet."
"Just pretty poetry about love and horses and princesses," Jo said with a laugh as she crawled into bed.
"Shut up, you love it," Alex said as he crawled in next to her, pulling her close and tickling her sides as she shrieked with laughter. Jo covered her mouth before they woke up the girls as they continued to laugh and have a tickle fight with each other.
"Okay, stop, stop, I'm going to pee myself," Jo said as he finally relented and she caught her breath.
"Wouldn't be the first time today," Alex said without thinking as Jo smacked him with a pillow. "I'm just saying."
"Ugh," Jo said as she rolled her eyes and laid back in bed. "Why did I ever marry you or let you get me pregnant."
"Because you love me," Alex said as he got up on his knees to lean her over and kiss her as his hands made their way under her shirt and over her belly, down to more intimate places. "And because I'm really good in bed."
"That's true," Jo said as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him again.
After their late night activities, they laid together in bed, and Alex pressed a kiss against her shoulder, and Jo went through the photos the girls had taken on her phone.
"They were kind of right, though," Jo said as she stopped on the picture of all five of them where all the girls were smiling, a miracle in itself.
"About what?" Alex said as he turned his head to look at her.
"It was nice that they were able to be a part of such a special moment for us. It was nice to recreate a little bit of our wedding magic and it was nice to walk down the aisle to you."
"Yeah, it was," Alex said as he remembered that moment. "I don't think I'll ever forget the vision of you coming down the stairs in that white dress. You looked so beautiful."
Jo smiled as she turned to lay back and look at him, putting her hands on her belly as he put a hand over her and felt their son wiggling under their hands, always so excited to greet them. She had been a little insecure about her appearance since she got pregnant the first time, but as she looked at him now, he could tell that she believed him.
"Seeing you standing there waiting for me, and the look on your face is something that I'll remember forever," Jo said as she reached up to put a hand on his cheek. "I'm glad I married you, Alex Karev."
"I'm glad I married you too, Jo Karev. You're the only one I want for the rest of my life," Alex said as he leaned down and kissed her again. He loved her so much, and he would marry her again and again, with real rings or paper rings. So long as he was married to her, he was happy, and so was she.
I want your dreary Mondays wrap your arms around me, baby boy. I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings. Uh huh, that's right, you're the one I want. I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this, Uh huh, Darling, you're the one I want.