Not me forgetting this site exists and only posting this update to tumblr and AO3 again...well opps it's here now!

I'll admit it's a bit of an underwhelming update (it's really just a filler chapter until I dig into the story down the line) but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless

❀❀❀ COMING TO TERMS ❀❀❀

Well I Didn't See That Coming: CHAPTER TWO

An alarm blared at full volume at the opposite end of the room from Jo, stirring her out of the deep sleep she'd been having. Springing to life, immediately looking around for the source of the noise, she cursed Meredith under her breath for setting such an obnoxiously loud ringer. At least, Jo figured it was Meredith who had set it. There was nobody else home and the sound wasn't coming from her phone. It was still black out so there was no way of knowing what the time actually was, but it was obvious from the lack of voices that it was way way earlier than she would choose to wake up.

Having spent a majority of the previous night sobbing in Meredith's embrace, all pregnancy talk had been pushed aside until another time. Jo was hoping that she'd get through her shift today without it coming up again but it appears her friend had other plans. The alarm was very clearly an attempt by Meredith to force Jo out of bed, so the two of them could continue their discussion.

"Oh shut up, I get the picture alright," Jo said, throwing the heavy duvet aside and crossing to the foot of the bed. Feeling around with her hands in the darkness, she soon came across a small wrist watch lying on the top dresser. "How on earth do you turn this stupid thing off?" Jo swung the strap around in frustration, the time it displayed having confirmed that it was in fact way too early to be awake.

Unable to silence the off-putting sounds, Jo instead buried the watch at the bottom of the laundry hamper in the bathroom and climbed back into bed to snooze for another hour or so. She knew she was kidding herself, though, if she thought there was a chance in hell that Meredith would let her get away with it.

"Oh no, you don't. Get up," Meredith ordered at Jo who was already slipping into sleep again. "Where on earth did you put my watch?"

"Someplace where it can't bother me," Jo muttered grumpily, pulling another pillow over her head to block out the constant chatter from Meredith that followed.

"Have you been listening to a word I've been saying?" Meredith sat down beside Jo on the bed.

"No Meredith, I haven't. I am ignoring you because I'm tired and want to sleep so please just leave me alone," Jo pleaded.

"I said, you can't put a baby in the laundry basket," Meredith reiterated. "Well, it never worked for me anyways," she added with a chuckle.

"Exactly. I'm enjoying my sleep whilst I get the chance."

"Are you going to tell him?" Meredith bit the bullet and asked, giving Jo a look of sympathy as she did.

Jo buried herself under the covers in frustration. "I said get out!"

"Okay...so no Alex talk?" Meredith paused. "Can I at least ask if-"

"Mommy! Mommy!" Ellis' voice interrupted. "Momma, I'm hungry. Can we have breakfast soon, please?"

"In a minute, Ellie, Mommy just needs to finish talking to Auntie Jo first," Meredith explained to the small child who had already climbed onto the bed beside her.

"Did Auntie Jojo have a sleepover?" Ellis looked between the two adults curiously, burying herself under the covers to snuggle with her favourite aunt.

Jo moved closer to cuddle with Ellis, twirling her blonde hair with her finger. "Ah-hm, I sure did."

"Why wasn't I invited?" Ellis frowned disappointedly, crossing her arms across her chest in anger.

Jo sighed at her niece's dramatics, knowing full well that the child truly didn't care that much. She was definitely the best actor out of the three Grey-Shepherd kids and frequently used it to her advantage to get her way. "I'm going to be staying here for a while, so we will have lots of opportunities to have a sleepover with just you and me."

"Yay!" Ellis grinned with satisfaction. "Let's go eat now!"

Jo watched as Meredith exited the room, Ellis dragging her by the arm until the pair disappeared out of the doorway. Alone at last, sudden relief flooded over Jo as she realised she had successfully avoided her friend's questions for the time being. Usually Jo hated how early Meredith's kids woke up, especially Ellis, but today she was incredibly grateful for the youngsters early bird ways.

The following two weeks consisted of very similar interactions; Meredith trying to start a conversation left, right and centre – Jo spending every waking moment avoiding said conversation – neither Alex nor the pregnancy ever being properly discussed. But Meredith knew better than to push Jo when she wasn't ready. She had been through hell and back this past year. First with the depression and rehab, then Alex leaving, and now with this pregnancy. So, she waited. She waited until Jo felt comfortable to talk about it again.

However, with Jo's morning sickness having really riled up these past few days, Meredith was finding it increasingly harder to bite her tongue. It had become routine for Jo to empty her guts before and after each surgery, never arriving early and most definitely never sticking around long enough afterwards to discuss post-ops. Meredith felt for her, she really did, but she was also extremely grateful that Jo had her own bathroom at home because otherwise hers would be occupied almost constantly.

She had been watching her friend suffer from afar, lending a hand only when she'd asked for it, determined to let her figure out her mess on her own. But she'd let it go on long enough now because Jo clearly needed some more support than she'd been getting.

"Here," Meredith passed Jo the bottle of ginger ale and box of saltines she'd picked up from the store on her way home from work. "We need to talk."

"I'm not in the mood, Meredith," Jo whined from her spot on the couch, throwing her head back in frustration.

"I don't care anymore," Meredith shuffled next to her, "you're obviously not doing very well and what kind of friend would I be if I just stood by and watched?"

"A friend who stayed out of other people's business, maybe?" Jo took a sip of her drink.

"You wouldn't have told me about the baby if you didn't want my help, so let me help."

"There's nothing you can do to help me, unless you can magically bring Alex back from the middle of nowhere Kansas. So let me wallow in my self pity while I can and I don't have another human depending on me because pretty soon that's going to change."

"Have you had a scan yet?" Meredith ignored her attempts to shut the conversation down.

"No, I haven't had the chance yet."

"Well then you're having one first thing tomorrow, before rounds. I'll organise an early one with Carina," Meredith made a note in her phone. "Then you've got to tell the chief you're pregnant. Do you want me to go with you?"

Jo didn't respond, instead rolling her eyes unamused.

"Jo?" Meredith repeated. "I'm obviously going to come with you for your scan, but I wasn't sure if you'd want me there for Bailey too."

"I can do Bailey by myself," Jo mumbled, clenching her teeth together in frustration.

"See, that wasn't so bad was it?" Meredith teased. "Look at all of these decisions being made."

"Yeah, yeah, it's all so great. Can I go back to watching the TV now?" Jo deflected once again.

"Ignore me all you like but very soon that baby is going to be making itself very pretty obvious to the people around you and I'm just trying to help you get your head wrapped around it all before then."

Jo's safe softened slightly as she realised just how much Meredith truly cared for her. For weeks since Alex had left, she'd been crying buckets over going ahead with the pregnancy alone, but she wasn't going to be alone after all. It was now plainly obvious to her that people like Meredith weren't exactly going to make themselves scarce, let alone disappear all together. She could always count on them to be there when she needed them.

And so, doing just that, Meredith kept to her word and joined Jo at her ultrasound appointment the next morning. Waiting anxiously in Carina's office, Jo shuffled on the paper lining below her, squeezing tight to the hand her friend was offering beside her. She was scared. Not of finding out that something was wrong, but of seeing something in her baby that reminded her of Alex. It's the exact reason she also wanted the baby to be a girl, hoping for as little resemblance to its father as possible.

"Buongiorno," Carina entered the room cheerfully, pulling Jo out of her daze. "I was wondering when you'd come by to see me. I was shocked it took you so long."

Jo's face morphed with confusion, "I don't understand, how would you know I was coming?"

"Oh Jo, this is my specialty. I am very good at noticing pregnancies on a stranger so, on my coworker, you can bet I'm even better. I've known since the moment you got back two weeks ago," Carina offered a reassuring smile. "Now, let's go over these blood results you ordered first and then we'll begin the ultrasound."

Meredith arrived home later that night to faint whispers coming from one of the bedrooms upstairs, neither Jo nor her kids initially visible. Lego sets were sprawled out across her carpet in the living room and empty plates filled the sink in the kitchen, all signs that her children had once been there. Muttering annoyances at the fact that Jo had, once again, allowed her kids to go to bed before cleaning up after themselves, Meredith started to tidy up the mess herself.

"Is that you, Meredith?" Jo's voice called out from the other side of the house.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm just tidying up the mess and then I'll be up," Meredith yelled back.

"I'll help you after," Jo sounded almost guilty, except Meredith knew full well it had been her plan to leave it all along. "Come up to Zola's room and join us."

"What's happening here?" Meredith entered the bedroom, laughing at the sight of her three children piled into a kid sized bed with Jo squeezed in the middle.

"We're looking at pictures of the baby!" Bailey held an ultrasound picture up proudly for his mom to see.

"Look, you can kind of make out its arm here," Zola signalled for Jo to show Meredith another picture in the pile.

"They're very cool, aren't they?" Meredith sat down at the foot of the bed, pulling an exhausted Ellis onto her lap. "That's what all of you looked like once."

"Nuh-uh, not me!" Bailey disagreed. "Maybe Ellis, because she's so little."

"Especially you," Jo tickled the blonde haired boy, "that was all the way back when I was just an intern."

"Why don't we go downstairs and put one of these up on the fridge?" Meredith suggested. "Then, we'll brush our teeth and head off to bed."

"That sounds perfect," Jo nodded a quiet thank you, before following the three excited kids out of the room.

Meredith stayed behind, typing out a message on her phone.

》》Bailey, I'm going to Kansas. Don't tell Jo where I've gone.

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mdevonsunflower

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