I wanted to get these slow chapters out of the way & hopefully will post again this week. Thank you all for continuing with this story!

Meredith looked at the selection of sandwiches, rolling her nose up in disgust. It seemed to her she always picked the worst days to forget her lunch. She startled when someone rushed to her side, huffing with having made a hasty entry into the cafeteria, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well hello. How's the first day going?" Her tone unaffected, she turned to give him a once over, "You're pretty smelly for someone that's not doing surgery."

"How do you think my day is going?" Alex ground out in frustration, "Why didn't you warn me my first patient would be Jo's child? Or that her husband would be my boss?"

Meredith rolled her eyes and walked towards a table in the far corner so they could have some privacy, "Because I've never told you anything about her. Just like I never told her anything about you. And what if I had? Would you have still took the job here?"

Alex narrowed his eyes, "Did you really only keep this from me so I would come back?" When Meredith shrugged while mindlessly putting mustard on her sandwich, Alex leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest, "Un-freaking-believable."

"Look, I may be your friend, but I also love that little girl. And I know the odds are not great, but they are even worse if she does not have a world-class surgeon and that is you. It's almost as if the stars aligned for you to be here."

Alex sighed, "Well it sure feels very kismet."

"It may be," Meredith offered softly, "Are you saying it's not deserved?" When Alex glared at her, she shrugged, "Look, just be on top of things and leave the personal out. Jo had to fight Hayes hard for you to even be on Mattie's case and you know he's going to be examining your every move."

"She….Jo requested me?" Alex asked in disbelief, "Why would she do that?"

"It's not like you have stiff competition around here, that department has lost a lot of talent in the past year."

Alex groaned, "I don't know if that makes me feel better." He watched Meredith, unsure if he should ask the questions that had been at the forefront of his mind for the past few hours, "So tell me about Mac."

Meredith looked at him with wide eyes, "Why have you been talking to Jo?"

Alex hiked his eyebrows as if she had lost her mind, his tone bitingly sarcastic, "Because she's the mother of my patient?"

He looked as Meredith's bony finger pointed in his face, "I'm telling you now to watch it. No one calls him Mac except for Jo. I know it's hard, but don't get too close, that will only cause problems."

"Fine," he sighed as he stole one of her fries, "Tell me about Hayes. Or Cormac. Or whatever the heck I'm supposed to call him."

Meredith gleefully looked at him teasingly, "Hayes your boss or Hayes your ex-wife's hot husband?"

"Don't make it worse," he snapped, reaching for her apple and taking a bite, "Is he a good guy?"

"He is. I actually thought about dating him and he even asked me out once, but Jo snagged him first. He's been a good friend to me. We have…or well had a lot in common. Single with kids. Surgeon. He used to work with Cristina and had her stamp of approval."

Alex nodded slowly, "And the kids?"

"Two older boys. The oldest is at UW and the younger is a senior in high school. And then of course the twins."

Alex's eyes widened, "Mattie has a twin?"

"Excellent job reviewing your charts there buddy. But no, they are not technically twins but everyone refers to them that way. Ian was born exactly one year to the day after Mattie. And they look just alike, so….the twins."

He wanted to kick himself for not even remembering the small boy from this morning. He really needed to get his head on straight and focus, "Oh I did see him earlier today asleep in Jo's arms."

Meredith seemed to be studying every reaction he had, still worried about his mindset, "He stays in daycare a good bit. I think they try to limit what he sees."

Alex nodded slowly, "So if Mattie's four…that happened pretty soon after I left."

Meredith cut her eyes at him, "Are you trying to insinuate something? You were gone. You can't mail your wife divorce papers and then get upset when she moves on."

Alex glared pointedly, "I'm not. I'm just…making an observation."

"Well Jo will have to explain that one," she said, her tone softening. "I don't think she was as careful with her heart after you left."

At this, Alex's eyebrows hiked as his heart sank, "What does that mean?"

Before Meredith could answer Amelia plopped down in an empty chair at their table, "I have just a few minutes before I get to kick ass in OR2 so I need to know how your day is going."

Alex grunted, angry at the interruption, "Fine."

"You got good news on Mattie?" At Meredith's glare, Amelia raised her eyebrows, "What? Scout's starting to ask questions that I'm not sure how to answer anymore. And selfishly I miss Link being at home."

Alex narrowed his eyes as he took another bite of Meredith's apple, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Amelia shrugged, her mouth full of pizza, "Well he is their godfather. Plus Link and Mattie have this bond over having cancer. So he stays late each night to make sure she and Jo are okay."

"Well that's good," Alex responded, glad to hear Jo did have some support, "Cause it sure seems her husband isn't doing much."

Meredith again pointed in his face, "I'm telling you to stop that. You don't know what their relationship is like based on one half of one day. Or anything about the type of parents they are. They have both been through hell and they are doing the best they can."

Alex nodded, taking in what she was saying, "I still don't like the guy."

Meredith's eyes widened with sarcasm as she took her apple back from him, "Shocking. Really."

Amelia bit her lips in thought, wanting to break the tension, "Soooo I hear your day is light. I have a VP shunt revision on a thirteen year old this afternoon if you want to get your hands dirty." When Alex looked at her in confusion she shrugged, "Gotta be better than staying up on that floor habitually looking into your ex-wife's daughter's hospital room, right?"

Alex's eyes widened as he tried half-heartedly to defend himself, "I haven't been doing that."

Both women rolled their eyes in unison, "Uh huh."

Alex growled as he took the apple back and stood deciding he wanted to be anywhere other than at the table with the two of them, especially since Meredith's insights into Jo's life had only deepened his anxieties, "I'll be in OR2."