SECOND INSTALMENT OF Every Thing Happens for a Reason: (2020) The birth of Maddy Karev
❀❀❀ Jo gives birth to Maddy in an elevator at Grey Sloan Memorial ❀❀❀
The last few months had been chaotic to say the least, but exciting nonetheless. The morning after Jo and Alex found out they were pregnant - combined with the extra stress of bribing Zola to keep it quiet (attempts that undoubtedly failed given that Meredith knew by the end of the day) - all either of them could think about was moving out of the loft and into their own house. Yet when the house search came up empty and Alex decided to take a note out of Derek's books and build Jo their dream family home, neither of them expected to be six months down the line and living in Meredith's house whilst their unpainted, windowless home was still being worked on.
The expectant parents were eager for all the changes their life was about to throw at them but no one was more eager to have their baby than Jo. She had been struggling to sleep in a comfortable position since she hit the halfway mark and now, at eight and a half months pregnant, Jo was officially annoyed by her childs constant squirms, kicks and hiccups. Alex tried his hardest to comfort her but since Jo's latest mood swings were aimed entirely at him for knocking her up in the first place, he had learnt that it was best to stay clear.
Today however, Alex could tell something was bothering Jo. Something more than the odd kick in the ribs or braxton hicks contraction. He hadn't thought too much of it at first, convinced that she was just tired and needed a good night's sleep, but when Owen had approached him on his lunch break concerned that Jo was overdoing herself it had sent Alex into panic. Which is why he now found himself scanning the hallways of Grey Sloan Memorial looking everywhere he could for the wife currently ignoring his pages. Near giving up on his search, Alex decided to check one last place in the hospital in the hopes to find Jo. That's when he found her, standing in the dark tunnels where Alex used to eat lunch as an intern, bent over in pain with her hands gripped around the edge of the gurney below her - knuckles turning white.
Rushed to her side within seconds but unsure whether she would appreciate him touching her at this moment, he went with a supportive hand on her back. "Jo, what's wrong? Is everything okay with you and the baby?" he asked frantically but immediately regretted his tone as she raised her eyes to meet him and shooted him the death stare of the century.
"What is wrong with me?" Jo spat as she straightened her back out and turned on her heels to face Alex who looked on confusingly. "What kind of stupid ass question is that Alex? I have peed five times in the past hour because your child thinks my bladder is a trampoline. I had to have a resident take over for me during a surgery today because the baby decided to kick me in the ribs TWICE and throw a couple of ridiculously painful braxton hicks my way - A RESIDENT ALEX!"
Alex tried his hardest to hide the laughs slowly erupting inside him but the smirk did not go unnoticed by Jo, who was now huffing like a toddler throwing a tantrum and walking in the opposite direction towards the basement elevator. Alex, quick to chase after her, got her to stop as he took her hands in his before pulling her into a hug and placing a kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry you feel shit Jo, I really really am. I'm not trying to make you more stressed but I'm just worried about you."
Jo started to realise that Alex's concerns weren't completely uncalled for but didn't want to give him the satisfaction of admitting that. So instead she gave him a warm smile and went back in for another hug. "I know you are, but I'm okay, baby is okay, everyone is okay. You don't need to worry" she said in an attempt to reassure him.
"You have no idea how much I love you Josephine karev" Alex stared longingly into the eyes of his gorgeous wife.
"I love you more" Jo grinned back but was soon interrupted by the ding of the elevator beside them indicating that it had arrived. "I have another forty five minutes until I need to be somewhere, why don't we go to the cafeteria to grab lunch?" she suggested with the hope that a calm conversation over some food would relax Alex's nerves and get him off her back.
Alex nodded in agreement as he stepped into the elevator, pushing the button to take them to the cafeteria. "That sounds perfect Jo."
Having now eaten the entire cafeterias collection of salt and vinegar chips - Jo's latest and most normal craving of the lot - Alex was satisfied that she was at least not going to starve to death. He knew Jo was still in pain because, despite efforts to hide it, she kept pausing and wincing through whatever it was the baby was doing. He wanted her to lie in bed and not leave until the kid eventually made an appearance but he knew forcing Jo into maternity leave before she was ready would only stress her out more than work itself. So instead he kept reminding himself that Jo wasn't stupid and she would never put the baby in harms way, she was likely just experiencing the joys of third trimester practice contractions.
The sound of Jo's pager buzzing at her side brought their mini lunch date to an abrupt end. Alex decided to walk his wife at her consult but only a few seconds into their elevator journey the lift roared still. Now surrounded by nothing but the dimmed emergency light and a small hum, Jo and Alex were stranded.
"Oh fuck" Jo said with a slightly anxious tone to her voice causing Alex to spin his head around to look at her.
"What? I'm sure Meredith can take your consult instead of you Jo, it's fine. Elevators experience power shortages all the time so I don't think we'll be here long anyway" Alex said somewhat preoccupied as he searched for a signal on his phone.
"No Alex you don't understand" Jo huffed as she lent forward to grip the side of the elevator walls. "I didn't want to admit it before but I don't think I was having braxton hicks contractions… I think they were real. I'm in labour Alex - my water just broke."
Alex whipped his neck up to stare at his wife in search of any sign that she could be joking, but the wet stain down the scrub leg trousers and the puddle on the tiled floor below her told him otherwise. "Holy shit Jo what the hell?" he screamed in panic.
"Jeez Alex that's comforting" Jo said rolling her eyes back at the husband she now thought was a complete idiot. Jo was soon hit by the familiar yet way more intense pain of another contraction, letting out muffled growls as she rubbed her lower abdomen with her right hand and held her left hand out to Alex in a plea for him to hold it and comfort her.
Having taken the hint, Alex moved into Jo's embrace. "Breath in and out Jo it's okay, it's better than okay - we're going to have a baby" he beamed whilst simultaneously trying to assess the situation.
"Yeah in the freaking hospital elevator ALEX!" Jo was unimpressed by Alex's optimism and did not appreciate how calm he was.
"It's perfect Jo. Maybe not ideal but it's us - we were kidding ourselves if we thought we could get away with the birth of our child without a small road bump like this. Alex waited for Jo to react but she ignored him as she swayed back and forth to the contractions that came on one after another. "Let's sit down Jo, please. I need to examine you"
Succumbing to Alex's desperate pleas, Jo lowered herself onto the ground and dragged the lab coat Alex had laid out on the floor towards herself so she could shove it under her back. Alex tugged on her scrub trousers with one hand whilst the other hand gave Jo a comforting squeeze. "Wow, um okay" Alex gasped.
"What Alex? You can't just say things like that, what's wrong?" Jo was now saying through tears
"Okay listen to me Jo, baby must be eager to get out because you're crowning. Baby's coming now" Alex explained slowly and sympathetically as he saw Jo's face sadden at the thought of them doing it all alone. "It's on you now okay, I'll be here to help but it's important for you that you listen to your body and push whenever you feel it needs it."
"Oh go fuck yourself Alexander Karev, you want to swap places?" Jo let out between contractions.
Alex was trying his hardest not to laugh at Jo's bluntness. "Trust be babe, if I could I would, sadly that's not quite how it works."
Jo responded with a grunt. "Typical"
Alex started to coach Jo through her breathing when he was interrupted by loud banging on the outside of the elevator. "Karev? Are you in there?" he heard Bailey screaming from above.
"Bailey! What's going on? We're stuck!" Alex turned his attention to the voices above whilst still trying to support Jo as she winced through each contraction.
"I know I know Alex there was a problem with the security systems and the elevator was shut down by accident but we're working on getting it up and moving now. It shouldn't be longer than an hour or so" Bailey encouraged.
Jo began to laugh nervously, eyes still squished shut in pain. "Time isn't exactly on our side right now Chief!"
"Jo? Is that you?" Merediths voice joined the collection of voices from above.
"Yeah it's both of us Mer, me and Jo" Alex confirmed. "We need to get out of here fast or at least get some supplies down to us because Jo's about ten minutes away from giving birth of the elevator floor."
"She's in labour?" questioned another voice that Alex recognised as Ben Warren, however Baileys voice boomed louder over the top. "The elevator is stuck between floors so we can't get anything to you right now but we're working as fast as we can Karev, just… just keep us updated and we'll do our best to get to you soon."
Alex felt a bit more comfortable knowing the fire department had arrived but could tell by Bailey's words that they likely weren't going to get them out in time.
Jo threw her head backwards and yelled some rather colourful insults Alex's way before suddenly announcing the need to push. "They're coming Alex, I feel like I can't control it anymore."
"Okay just tell me when you're ready and I'll count for you" Alex smiled back in an attempt not to let her see how scared he really was.
Less than five minutes later and the elevator was filled with the loud cries of Alex and Jo's baby. Alex lowered Jo's scrub top to place the small child chest-to-chest in their mother's arms before removing his shoelace to tie around the umbilical cord. As he looked back at Jo holding their baby across her chest, he felt a rush of relief that everything was okay.
"I told you she was a girl" Jo smirked from her place on the floor.
"Next one is a boy I'm telling you" Alex grinned back.
It had now been a couple of hours since the elevator roared back to life and Jo and baby were now both fast asleep in their hospital room in the Labour and Delivery unit. The only person who was not asleep was Alex - he was mesmerized by the little girl dozing in his arms.
"Mommy knew you were a girl but I thought boy for sure" Alex teased at his daughter. "But I'm so happy she was right, I wanted you so much my princess."
"Madeleine" Alex heard Jo say sleepily from her bed, causing him to look at her confusingly. "You called her princess but I've officially decided... her name is Madeleine - Madeleine Brooke Karev" Jo clarified.
Deciding on a name had been a bit of a stressful topic throughout Jo's pregnancy so they'd ended up just agreeing that Jo could name the baby if it was a girl and Alex could name the baby if it was a boy.
"I love it Jo" Alex smiled back at her with glee. "What do you think, Maddy? Do you like your name."
The tiniest gurgle sounded from the small baby he was holding but that was good enough for Alex. It was decided - Maddy was his daughter's name.