Jo walked down the hall at the hospital. She was taking a late lunch break and heading down to the parking garage to greet Alexis and Eli, as Izzie brought them to the hospital daycare from school. It had been a busy day and Jo was on call that night, meaning this was her only chance to spend time with the twins that day. She had already spent her morning with Luna and checked in on her two-year-old in daycare while on her brakes.
Ever since she learned of the twins' existence two years ago Jo had been thrust into motherhood. Especially when she met Luna only a few months later. Jo had fallen in love with the twins, and them with her, as they now called her their Mama Jo. While Luna had captured her heart in the NICU and Jo didn't dare let go of her. She was now a mom to three kids and couldn't imagine her life without them.
Jo made it to the sky bridge that led to the parking lot, only to find that she wasn't the only one waiting for the twins to arrive.
"Mama, mama," Luna babbled excitedly, practically jumping out of Alex's arms in her attempts to greet Jo before Alex finally set her down and she ran off towards her. Jo instantly smiled as she bent down, holding her arms out before she scooped up her baby girl.
"Hello, my little Moon," Jo said, greeting her with a kiss on her cheek before snuggling her close. "Did Daddy sneak you out to daycare so you could see your big sister and brother?"
"Yeah!" Luna nodded before she looked around the parking lot for Izzie's car.
"They're not here yet, but they'll be here soon," Jo said as Alex finally reached them. He put one arm around her waist, pulling her into his side as she tilted her head and greeted him with a quick kiss. "I thought you were in surgery until 4:00."
"It wasn't as bad as we thought it was, so I got out early and I thought I'd catch the twins after school," Alex said, looking around the parking lot for them. "Oh and I'm taking them all home as I was supposed to be off at 4:30 and there's nothing else for me to do."
"Okay, does that mean you're cooking dinner as well?" Jo asked with a raised eyebrow as Alex groaned.
"Yeah, I'll think of something for us to eat tonight," Alex said, with a nod.
"It better not be take-out," Jo said leaning into him.
"I'll do my best," Alex said with a shrug. "But I made no promises, you know how it is with the kids."
"Uh hu," Jo said with an eye roll, knowing that he was just using it as an excuse to get pizza as they're picky eater kids often encouraged him to do.
"Eli, Lexis," Luna shouted as she spotted them walking in the parking lot.
The two eight-year-olds immediately started running to them, their backpacks bouncing on their backs. Although Izzie continued to walk toward them. Jo kept a better grip on Luna, lest she tear her way through the parking lot. The twins were cautious as they peaked for cars and before they crossed over to greet them.
Eli immediately hugged Jo's legs before she crouched down and she and Luna hugged him back. Alexis went straight for her Daddy's arms. Alex picked her up and threw her in the air while she giggled with glee. Then the twins traded places and Alexis hugged Jo and Luna while Eli gave Alex a hug. Then they both quickly surrounded Luna and gave her an extra long hug. Eli then picked Luna and put her on his hip as if she was his own child.
"Hi Luna, did you have a good day?" Eli asked as Luna nodded and proceeded to say a few words about her day while Alexis and Eli intently listened.
"We had a good day too, what did you guys do at school?" Alex asked as Izzie finally reached them.
Jo had been so nervous about meeting Izzie. She was her husband's first love, his first marriage, and his first serious relationship. Jo didn't know what Izzie's motives were when she came back to Seattle with the twins. Before the twins had their first overnight stay with her and Alex, Izzie took her out for lunch.
Izzie wanted to know how she would treat Alexis and Eli as their stepmother and Jo asked what her intentions were towards Alex. Izzie assured her that she only wanted a co-parenting relationship with Alex. Jo, in turn, told her that she loved the twins and wanted to get the chance to know them, just like Alex did.
Once the two of them were on the same page, they began talking. At first about Alex and the kids, but then about surgery and medicine. They finally ended up on the topic of baking and as they found out that they both loved sweet treats. Jo for eating them and Izzie for making them, which worked out quite well. Izzie soon taught her how to bake a few things and Jo was her test tester for new recipes.
Now, the three of them were all good friends. They had houses in the same neighborhood and the twins often rode their bikes between Mommy's, and Daddy and Mama Jo's house. This fostered a close relationship between everyone.
"They were telling me all about how they made turkeys and painted with corn cobs," Izzie said with a laugh as Alexis and Eli nodded before Alexis reached into her backpack pulling out her paper turkey.
It was a turkey handprint that looked like it had been run over by a corn cob, but it was cute. "We learned all about corn Daddy! Don't they grow lots of corn in Iowa where Nana lives?"
"They certainly do. They grow corn and soybean alternatively each year, and Nana said that the field behind her house has corn this year," Alex said with a nod as the six of them made their way back into the hospital.
Eli was still holding Luna, although she was pretty small for her age, she wasn't a baby anymore and he soon set her down. Alexis and Eli each took one of her hands as they let the toddler through the doors of the hospital. while the adults walked behind them. Jo loved their little bond, Alexis and Luna were true sisters and often had tea parties and dressed as princesses. While Eli doted on Luna and they often played pretend with her. But mostly the three of them played together in a cute trio.
"Daddy, can we go see the corn at Nana's house?" Alexis asked, looking up at them. "I want to see real corn and a real farm with a real turkey, not just a turkey sandwich."
"I want to go see Nana too!" Eli interjected jumping up and down.
"Nana, Nana!" Luna squealed, with just as much excitement, pulling on Alex's pants as if he had Nana hidden in his pocket, although he knew she was reaching for his phone to video call her.
"It might be worth it to visit Nana, but it's fall so they will have already harvested all the corn," Alex said with a sad smile as Alexis frowned.
"But we could probably see some snow if we visit in the winter, maybe not for Thanksgiving, but Christmas is coming up so we could visit her then!" Jo said, with a smile as she glanced at him before they looked back at Alexis to see her smiling again.
Luna was still pulling at his pant leg so Alex pulled up a picture of his mom on his phone to hand to her. "I was talking to my Mom earlier and she was wondering if she could visit us for the holidays. Apparently Amber and Matt will be at his parents' place this year and she doesn't want to spend Christmas alone."
"I think it'd be great! We've never been to Iowa before and I've only met Helen once. Plus, I think it would be good for the kids to see where you grew up and I think it'd be fun to see your childhood bedroom," Izzie said, with a gleaming smile.
"It's so cute. He has this adorable little plaid bedspread and a bunch of wrestling posters from when he was a teenager," Jo said as she and Izzie exchanged a pair of giggles.
"Excuse you, it's been updated since then," Alex said with a grumpy frown as Jo and Izzie continued to laugh at his expense.
His room had indeed been turned into a more appropriate guest room for when they visited. While Amber and Aaron's rooms had similar updates as a few years ago, he had helped his mom out with some renovations on the house. Although the twins had yet to visit Nana's house, Jo, Luna, and Alex visited for a week each summer.
"I think it'll be great, and it's only a four hour plane ride. We all know that the kids travel really well," Izzie said, as they started walking again, following the kids that hadn't waited for them.
"That's true," Jo added with a tilt of her head. "Luna did so well in the car on our last trip to the coast. She watched a movie and then slept for the rest of the drive."
"She was also placated with a lot of snacks," Alex said with a laugh.
"But a plane ride is different," Jo said, giving him a reassuring smile. "She could get up and walk around. She also wouldn't be in her car seat the entire time, she'd be in a seat with us or in her own seat."
"That might be nice. That way we could see if we could get two rows to ourselves," Izzie added with a nod.
"I guess it's settled them," Jo said, with a smile as she looked up at him.
"Alright then, to Nana's house we go," Alex said with a smile as the kids cheered.
Alex watched Jo as she did the dishes in the sink across from him. It was late and they had put Luna to bed half an hour ago. Then they came down to do the cleaning for the night. This time, it was Alex's turn to do the laundry and fold it, tidy the living room, and vacuum. Whereas Jo cleared the table, tidied the kitchen, and did the dishes. They switched every other night so that it was fair. Although Alex preferred to clean the living room rather than do the dishes, a chore Jo didn't mind.
Alex had finished first of course and after folding the laundry he had wandered over to the kitchen. Now he waited for her to finish scrubbing the dishes so they could watch the latest episode of their TV show or do something more fun. He was eager to get his hands on her and fiddled with his phone to occupy his hands, but he was also avoiding something else. Jo seemed to feel him staring at her as she looked up and gave him a dead pen look as she paused scrubbing.
"Call her!" Jo instructed him to do the task he had been putting off for far too long.
"I know," Alex said, staring down at the phone in front of him.
He said he'd do it before dinner. and then after dinner, and then after they put Luna down, then after they cleaned up. Now that the chores were done he simply had no other excuse.
"So what's the holdup?" Jo asked, raising an eyebrow at him, although her face was a soft question rather than a firm look.
"I don't know, it's just that this would be the first time we spent Christmas with my Mom. I mean we've spent Thanksgiving together so it's not like spending the holidays with her isn't new, but… It just brings up a lot of old memories."
Alex sighed and Jo just waited for him to continue when he was ready.
"The last time I had Christmas at home was the year before my dad left and we all got dropped in foster care. I'd worked as much as I could at the local fast food joint to be able to buy them a few presents and a little fake tree and lights. I got some turkey meat and a box of stuffing from the local food bank. I got up at 6 am to put up the little four foot tree and wrap their presents. I even made turkey sandwiches with strawberry jam and we had a little picnic in the living room. I still remembered how good those turkey sandwiches were and how Amber and Aaron's eyes lit up when they saw the tree and presents. Amber has said that she was thankful for her big brother and it's one of my favorite Christmas memories…. Until my mom ran in talking nonsense and flipped over the table looking for an imaginary cat. Then my Dad woke up from his drunken slumber and tripped over the tree and well, the rest of the day was ruined. Amber and Aaron were so scared they refused to come out of my room for the rest of the night. And I know it wasn't her fault, it was her illness, but…."
"It still hurt you and your siblings," Jo whispered, finishing the thought he couldn't say.
"Yeah," Alex whispered looking down at his phone as he remembered that night, his father's yelling, and his mother's delusional actions.
"Oh Alex," Jo sighed as she set the dish down in the sink. Her soft voice gently brought him out of his memories as he looked up at her. "Is that why you're afraid to call her, because you're worried she'll have a slip and scare the kids?"
"No it's not that," Alex said with a snake of his head. "It's just…. My kids will have better memories with my mom than I do."
"I'm sorry, Alex," Jo said with a sympathetic smile. "But is that such a bad thing that you want to deprive yourself of that now? You can still make good memories with your mom this Christmas."
"I know and I want to," Alex smiled as he thought about what it would be like to have a good Christmas with his mom.
"But you're still scared," Jo said, as he nodded. "Call her, Alex. This will be a good thing."
"You're right," Alex admitted, as Jo smirked.
She always loved to hear that she was right, especially at his expense. She gave him a satisfying smile before she quietly went back to the dishes, scrubbing in silence. Alex finally pulled up his mom's number and called her. He put it on speaker and placed the phone in front of him. Although Iowa was two hours ahead of them, it technically wasn't too late to call. The phone rang a few times before his mom picked up.
"Hello my sweetest boy," Helen said in a sweet greeting to him.
"Hi Mom," Alex said as an easy smile slipped across his lips.
"Hi Helen," Jo greeted her with a smile in her voice as Helen couldn't see the one on Jo's face.
"Well hello Jo," Helen said with utter delight at the voice of her daughter-in-law, her favorite, and her only. "What do I owe the pleasure of your call?"
"Well, I know we were talking earlier about you visiting for Thanksgiving, but Jo, Izzie, and I were wondering if we could all come to visit you for Christmas instead?" Alex offered, he was trying to seem casual in his ask, despite his nerves.
"Oh, that would be absolutely lovely!" Helen exclaimed, her voice lighting up with happiness. "I'll have to prepare Aaron and Amber's old room for the kids and I suppose I'll have to get a crib for Luna, but it should be doable."
"No, no, Mom, don't worry about it. We'll just get a hotel," Alex said before he felt a sprinkling of droplets hit him as Jo flicked water at him.
He reeled back from the cold water and gave her a look as Jo just glared at him.
"Oh Heaven no, dear. You don't have to do that," Helen said, not even entertaining his idea.
"Well, we don't want to interrupt your schedule," Alex said before his mom quickly cut him off.
"It'd be no more different than if I were to visit you. I'd be happy to have you all stay with me. You know how much I adore you and Jo and it would be nice to get to know Izzie a little bit more. Plus it means more time with my grandbabies," Helen said wistfully.
"Thank you Helen and we'll definitely take you up on that offer," Jo said, overruling him with a smile. "Plus, Alex and I will bring a pack and play for Luna, so you don't have to worry about buying a crib."
"Yeah, please don't go to too much trouble getting the house ready Mom," Alex said with a shake of his head that she couldn't see.
"Okay well, I'll at least get a turkey and start planning a decent meal. Although I can't promise it will be the best," Helen said with a tisk. "My cooking skills aren't quite up to snuff these days, but I can promise a nice baked pie from Henry's.
"Don't worry about it," Jo said, as she picked up the last dish out of the soapy water to rinse it off. "I know how to cook a turkey, Izzie is such a wonderful baker, and Alex can help us with whatever, so I'm sure that between the four of us, we'll be able to make a decent Christmas meal."
"Or we could order from that restaurant downtown, Charlie's, are they still there?" Alex asked, hoping to get out of cooking a big meal.
"Oh, yeah. They're the best restaurant in town, you know," Helen said with excitement that Alex wasn't used to. "I go there every morning these days for my eggs and toast. It's a nice little treat I've added to my routine and it helps me get going before work. I've also become friends with some of the other regulars."
"Oh, anyone in particular you've been chatting with?" Jo said with a glint in her eye as Alex's lips immediately turned into a frown.
"Well, now that you mention it, there is one particular gentleman," Helen said with a blush in her voice. "His name is Leonard and he runs the local car garage. He's very sweet and has been sitting next to me each morning. I can't tell you how much I love his company. He too has three kids who live out of state with families of their own."
"Oh well, you should ask Leonard out on a date!" Jo encouraged with delight as she dried off her hands.
"Mom," Alex began, although Jo stopped him by tossing her towel at him as he glared at her.
"I don't know about that. I'm not sure if I should really be dating again at my age, especially with everything," Helen said with a bit of disappointment.
"I think you should go for it!" Jo said as she quickly swiped his phone off of the countertop. She turned off the speakerphone and danced away from him as he got up to chase after her.
"Jo!" Alex whisper-yelled as he chased after her with a glare, but Jo ignored him and continued to evade him as she talked with Helen.
"There's no reason you shouldn't have a second chance at love. Now that you're older and wiser, I'm sure you will make good choices and you can always talk to us about it. We're happy that you're happy," Jo said with a smile and she meant every word.
He didn't hear his mom's reply, but Jo smiled and hummed in agreement with whatever she was saying as he followed her in a circle around the kitchen island.
"Well let us know if you change your mind and we'll send you the dates for our travel soon," Jo said, as she finally stopped walking and put the phone back on speaker mode. Alex wrapped his arms around her, catching her as he put his head on her shoulder and leaned in to kiss her cheek.
"Why don't I pick you all up from the airport then?" Helen offered with delight.
"Mom, are you sure?" Alex asked, his eyebrows knitting together he didn't want to overburden her with their travel.
"No, no, I insist. I can't wait to see you three and all of my grandchildren again."
"Well, we all can't wait to see you either! I'll send you a few pictures of Luna that I have from this afternoon and some of the twins too. They wanted to show you their science fair projects. Eli did an experiment making lemons erupt like volcanoes and Alexis made a bridge of toothpicks."
"Oh yes, I want to hear all about it! Izzie was telling me about Alexis's library and how she's organized it according to the Dewey decimal system!" Helen said with excitement, she loved that her granddaughter shared her passion for bookkeeping.
"It's so cute!" Jo exclaimed as she gushed about Alexis. "She looks up each book in the library catalog and writes down the call number to put on her books. She even remembers the numbers for each category and sorts them accordingly!"
"Oh well that's such a delight," Helen said with a smile in her voice. "She really is such a bright girl and I can't wait to give her a tour around the library and show her the behind the scenes work. We're usually open a few days before and after Christmas. Oh and I'm going through the kids' books and retiring some, so I'll send a few of them out for all the kids."
"Thank you Mom, the kids will love the books and Alexis would love to get a tour of your library."
"Of course and let me know if you all need anything. Especially snow gear, there's usually a bit of snow during the holidays."
"Oh yes. That's one of the things we're all looking forward to," Jo said, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of seeing the snow. "We've all got good things for the snow, but I doubt Luna's snowsuit will fit her anymore."
"Yeah, we'll have to get her a new one," Alex agreed, with a nod. "I'm sure you'd love any excuse to go shopping."
"Of course," Jo said with a laugh.
"Well I should get going, it's quite late. Oh and there's my bedtime alarm," Helen said as they heard a tiny little clock rang through the phone.
"We'll let you go then, we love you, Helen," Jo said, leaning back into him.
"Love you, Mom," Alex said as well.
"And I love you both very dearly," Helen said, her voice filled with love for them.
"We love you too," Alex and Jo both said together. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye, my sweet dears."
They hung up and Jo gave him back his phone as Alex slipped it into his back pocket. Although he kept his arms around her waist and Jo settled into his arms. Neither of them were eager to part.
Alex pressed a kiss to her shoulder and then gave her another kiss before trailing his lips up her neck to her lips. Jo turned her head to greet him as he kissed her lips. She then turned around, kissing him fully as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He trailed his arms down her sides to her waist and over her hips. Jo read his mind as he trailed his hands down to her thighs urging her up as she jumped in his arms. He held her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist, but she pulled back from the kiss as he took them over to the kitchen counter, setting her on top of it.
"We really shouldn't do this here," Jo said with a shake of her head as his fingers went to the hem of her shirt before quickly pulling it over her head.
"So stop me," Alex said with a smirk as Jo just groaned and pulled him in to kiss him again.
"Fine," Jo said before she moaned as he kissed her bare skin. "But you have to disinfect the countertops."
They definitely didn't finish the dishes that night.