A/N: Here is chapter 3 lovelies! As so often happens when you go on a trip, you sort of need a vacation from your vacation. But I am back now, I have internet access and I'm feeling way excited about writing. This is a bit of a transitional chapter, but it lays the ground work for stuff to come. To all of you who reviewed, thank you so much. I am not a medical professional and all medical stuff in this chapter came from google. Chapters 4 and 5 are coming soon. Thank you very much for reading, and let me know what you think.

At the sound of the doorbell, Alex glanced up from his beer, zoning out of his conversation with Cristina. His eyes immediately focused April, decked out in a witches costume as she enthusiastically opened to door. Of course she'd opted to dress up for their little party. She loved holiday crap.

"Trick or treat!" a very loud and screechy chorus of voices drifted in from outside.

"Oh my goodness! What do we have here?"

Alex found that he was oddly more observant of her in the two days since he'd found out she was pregnant. Just to make sure she was alright or whatever. Alex still hadn't fully processed the whole thing. Like at all. The whole idea of a baby seemed very abstract. Because it was hard to think of 12 week old fetus as an actual kid.

Then again, Alex had done enough OB stuff with Addison back in the day to know that right now their baby already had fingers and toes. And eyes that were probably almost where they were supposed to be, and a face that didn't look completely alien. He knew that the 12th week is when reflexes usually start to develop. The fingers and toes could flex in response to stimuli and the brain was forming synapses at a rapid pace. Pretty baby-like, he supposed.

Even so, none if it had sunk in. Actually, Alex figured they were a little late to the game. Usually couples who were trying to get pregnant religiously monitored, and found out sooner than this. He knew that April had suspected for a while though, so he figured she'd been a little chicken in actually taking the test to find out. He could hardly blame her.

To be honest, Alex was still a little stunned about the whole turn of his life actually. He wasn't screwing up at work. His sister was settling into her second year of college with no major issues. He was going to get married again. They were gonna have a kid. Something had to give somewhere. Alex was positive it would happen. In his life, the other shoe always dropped. Just when you were supposed to get your happily ever after and all that, things crashed and burned.

Actually, that was a huge part of the reason why Alex wasn't freaking out as much as he probably should. For crying out loud what child would ever want him as a father? Kid certainly hadn't done anything yet to deserve getting saddled with all Alex's Karev crap. Hopefully, they'd be lucky and this baby wouldn't get the Karev crazy. The thought was almost enough to stop Alex's heart with fear, but he couldn't let it. He couldn't think about it. His fear of the other shoe dropping was also the reason he was drawn to keeping an eye on April, and controlling his emotions. Because she'd freak out if he did and he definitely didn't want her to get all stressed out. And normally she freaked out over everything!

Even though she kept telling Alex how happy she was, April had also said things over the past few days that made him absolutely certain that she was a lot more scared and anxious than she'd let on.

He remembered when they got home that first night she'd told him she was pregnant. They'd left the grocery store parking lot in stunned silence, but Alex could see out of the corner of his eye that April was anxiously twisting and untwisting the edge of her coat.

When they got home, she'd started to ramble, "I guess this means we need to think about moving the wedding date, I mean in February...I'll be-I'll be 6 months pregnant, and I don't want to b-be huge at the wedding. People...my relatives will-I mean, my Grandma Murhpy...s-she's like 90! She doesn't even believe people should live together before they get married, let alone have premarital sex...me as a pregnant bride would just be too much and she already has heart palpa-"

Alex had shut April up by pulling her into a kiss. It was all he could think of as a distraction. He wasn't at all ready to worry about crap like the wedding. February had seemed too close for a big who-ha and ceremony, baby or not. They should probably just wait. Do one thing at a time. He'd had bad luck with big nice weddings anyway. So Alex had kissed her, and she'd wrapped her arms around his neck, and the next minute they'd been stumbling over to the bed.

Once they started making out it was always hard for Alex to keep his hands off of April, and it seemingly as difficult for her not to push forward with him. That night hadn't been any different. One thing led to another, and Alex knew that this was how they'd ended up getting pregnant in the first place. Whatever. Sure as hell beat talking. But Alex knew the sex hadn't really done anything to stop April's whirring mind, or alleviate her fears about the wedding and everything else.

In fact, since then she'd also expressed concern her knee needing surgery, their ability to afford to move to their own place, her ability to be a parent, and the affect a baby might have on her career. Which Alex realized were all valid enough concerns, but he also knew how neurotic April could be. If she'd mentioned these things to him, he knew she'd been thinking and stressing about them more than she'd let on. He really wished he could help her chill out more. Because it didn't do any good to worry about everything all the time.

Okay, maybe his strategy of total avoidance wasn't much better, but Alex knew that he and April didn't have to get it all figured out right now. A lot of what April was worried about couldn't even be dealt with until after the kid was born anyway.

There was that strange new concept again. A kid. Their kid.

Also didn't help that they hadn't told people yet. Only Callie knew about the pregnancy because she'd helped April take her blood test. And Torres wasn't going to tell their secret. April wanted to wait at least until their appointment next week with OB. Which made sense. They should find out if everything was okay or whatever.

But Alex still felt weird. He was having a baby, and in the same way he found it hard not to keep an extra close eye on April, Alex found it difficult not to tell everyone. He kind of wanted to shout it out to the world. Because even though this kid was unlucky enough to have him as a dad, he already loved them fiercely. And April was going to be the mom, so Alex figured it would balance out. No matter what fears she had about it all.

As much as he wanted to flip shit right now he couldn't. He figured his turn to freak out would come eventually. Now Alex just wanted to keep things together enough for April to keep calm. Hold everything in. It was the best he could do. Especially considering the fact that she was the one who was doing all the work growing the kid or whatever. He'd put in enough time in obstetrics to know that stress and stuff wasn't good to have during pregnancy. Alex didn't want that for April or the baby.

"So, I'm doing a cardio skills lab and the idiot intern...Alex?" Cristina had noticed his distraction and was now leaning forward and eying April as she gave out candy. Her eyes flicked between Alex and the door. "Earth to Dr. Evil Spawn?"

"Yeah…" Alex said absently as he pulled his gaze away. "What?"

"You gonna stop ogling your girlfriend long enough to pay attention to your dear friend who is in town for only a limited amount of time, who you haven't seen in weeks?"

"We're not friends," Alex teased, smirking. "And you're moving back next year. So whatever…"

Cristina smiled, "Right. What am I doing talking to you anyway?"

She still looked a little suspicious, but she didn't pester him about zoning out. Whatever they teased each other, Alex knew Cristina was one of his closest friends. He'd never have thought it would end up like that back at the beginning of their intern year, but now he couldn't imagine it going down any other way. He'd missed Cristina this past year and a half.

April shut the front door and walked past them frowning slightly and holding one bag of candy.

"We're running out of Twix," she told Alex as she past behind his spot on the couch. "No one wants candy corn."

"You're the only person who likes that crap, April," Cristina teased, leaning back.

April pouted and looked at Alex. He shrugged, and added, "Give 'em a choice and chocolate is what they're gonna pick."

April reached into the bag and crammed a handful of the orange, white, and brown candy into her mouth and headed back into the kitchen, where Ben Warren smirked and sipped a beer. She rolled her eyes over her shoulder, mumbling, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"Jackson and his new lady friend bail on this?" Cristina asked, obliquely condemning the party as too lame.

"She's not so new anymore..." Alex shrugged, scratching the back of his head. "I think they both have work actually."

"Is Amber going to be making an appearance or…?" Cristina continued mildly, reaching down and grabbing a handful of chips from the coffee table.

"Uh, I doubt it," Alex shook his head. "She said she might, but I'm pretty sure there are better parties and crap happening on campus."

"Duh," Cristina replied. "College parties totally beat hanging out with your boring older brother..."

"Shut up."

His friend smiled, and swallowed a mouthful before saying, "Seriously though, it's good she's doing well."

"Yeah," Alex agreed absently, distracted this time by the front door bursting open. Zola, dressed as a pumpkin, bounded into the living room dragging a matching costumed Lexie by the hand. Sofia was hot on her heels, dressed as a ballerina, followed by Tuck, who was sporting a dinosaur costume. The girls immediately began babbling somewhat incoherently and waving around their bags of candy. For his part, Tuck hadn't run into the room. He came in, lifted his plastic mask, and leaned nonchalantly on the couch, as though he was trying to prove that being five was so much more cool than being three.

Alex smirked as he watched the rest of the adults come into the house. Meredith and Derek and Bailey, smiling, each holding a freaking camera. Sloan and Robbins and Torres followed behind, each dressed up in costumes like April and Lexie. Mark was supposed to be James Bond, while Arizona was freaking Glinda the good witch, and Callie was supposed to be some sort of french artist or something.

Alex had teased them all when they'd shown up in costume, and claimed 'it was all for the kids'.

"Who picked your costumes? Sloan is no Sean Connery."

Callie had raised her eyebrows, and held up one finger, "I am an artist, a bone artist. Don't believe me? Your girlfriend's leg is my masterpiece."

That had stopped him in his tracks. Alex remembered when April had first gotten hurt and how messed up her leg had been during the earthquake. There was a difference between broken bones and shattered ones. Hers had been shattered. He'd vowed to himself never to take her survival or her recovery for granted again, because almost losing April had been what it had took for Alex to realize his feelings. He was so lucky for everything, even if this pregnancy was unexpected. Torres had reminded him of that. And in a strange way she was partially responsible for Alex and April being where they were today.

"Look UncAlex, look!" Zola pulled Alex back to the moment as she hopped up and down in front of him, barely pausing for breath. "Aunt 'ristina look! Aunt Lexie and me got Yaffy Taffy."

"Nice," Alex replied.

"Quality," Cristina inspected the candy and nodded. "And you get jokes too."

Her goddaughter giggled and continued at full speed, "And we went to da On-ted house, and I...I got scared but Mommy said der weren't ghosteses."

"There weren't any," Lexie agreed fondly.

"I wasn't scared," Tuck added sagely, crossing his arms and tilting his head to one side, somewhat alarmingly like his mother.

Zola stuck her tongue out at him and kept on talking, "And um...then we go blue house and-and...Sofia got a extra-"

"Hey Zola," Derek said calmly as he came into the living room. "Why don't you let Sofia tell everyone by herself?"

Zola was currently a lot more verbal than Sofia. So Torres had mentioned to everyone that they should try to get the little girl to speak for herself as much as possible. Not that Sofia was that far behind for her age really. She was doing exceedingly well for someone born as premature as she was, and she'd gotten many of her milestones on time. She had better hand eye coordination than Zola, loved to run, and was braver at the playground. Talking, she just wasn't as interested in. It didn't help that her best friend could talk until the cows came home.

"Yeah," Alex coaxed, smiling at Sofia. "Tell us what you got."

She shrugged and frowned slightly before pulling a red wrapped kit-kat bar out of her candy sack, whispering, "I...I got thisss..."

Alex suddenly had this strange warm feeling as he looked out at the little girls in front of him. They were so happy and stuff about the holiday or whatever. He realized that this time next year, he'd be a dad. He figured that April would want to dress the kid up, even if they were too young to really trick or treat in a year. From now on his holidays would be more like this one than those before. Alex also figured he'd be safe in betting it was a little girl tucked safe inside of April, using those new reflexes to wriggle and flex. Because the Kepner family only seemed to produce baby girls. He'd bet they were having a daughter. But that wasn't bad at all. If she was anything like her mom, she'd be cute. And if she was anything like Amber she'd be feisty. Alex grinned. And someday she'd be like Zola and Sofia. Whoa. In an instant, the idea of his child became way less abstract.

Freakin' awesome.

"Now we can eat everything!" Tuck said, grinning as he peered into his candy bag.

"Uh-mhmm...think again," Bailey said firmly, expertly removing the bag from her son's hands. "Last thing we need is for you all to get on a sugar high. You may pick one piece to eat right now."

Robbins chuckled and agreed, expertly snatching her own daughter's bag of candy, "No way you guys can eating all this candy right now. Save some for later. And remember, April's got caramel apples in the kitchen! At least that has fruit."

Tuck hung his head and sighed dramatically, while Zola and Sofia seemed happy enough. Alex figured you couldn't please everyone. That was universal. Didn't matter if you were 4 or 40.

"Ah, yes! Apples!" Mark said, with exaggerated enthusiasm, as he herded the three kids into the kitchen, followed closely by Derek, Bailey, Torres and Robbins. "Andale, andale! To the kitchen with you!"

Meredith slumped down on the couch next to Alex, reaching for her own handful of chips. He nudged her slightly, and smirked. Lexie hovered in the kitchen doorway, her gaze lingering on Mark. She shook herself a bit and adjusted her pumpkin costume before following them all into the kitchen, leaving Alex, Meredith and Cristina alone in the living room. April and the others were being really nice, kind of respectful or something, of himself, Mer, and Cristina. Giving at least the friends enough space to reconnect in their short visit time.

Alex sighed, still feeling inexplicably happy and stretched his arms across the back of the couch, tapping his fingers on the fabric.

Shaking her head Meredith said, "I think Zola has a new favorite holiday."

Cristina still looked at Alex suspiciously, but commented, "You said that after 4th of July. And Easter. And Christmas."

Mer giggled, and shrugged, "I guess every holiday is her favorite on that day."

Before Alex had a chance to add anything to the conversation, his ears caught Mark Sloan's voice as it carried into the living room.

"Uh oh! Kepner looks like she's gonna hurl!"

"Leave her alone, Mark," Torres said sharply.

"I'm just saying she-oh...she really is going to-"

Suddenly, April staggered out of the kitchen, leaning heavily on her cane, with one hand over her mouth. She made a surprisingly quick dash to the downstairs bathroom, and before he even realized it, Alex was hot on her heels too. He knew that morning sickness and nausea or whatever was a normal part of pregnancy and everything, but it still made his chest tight to see her this way, especially knowing that it wasn't just her stomach that was hurting, but her leg too.

"Geez..."

Alex knelt behind April as she hunched over the toilet yet again, moaning pitifully as her stomach contents emptied into the white porcelain bowl. He reached out to touch her back but was surprised to find that she pushed him away with one unsteady arm.

"Leave me alone...p-please," she half whined and half gasped before her face paled again and she turned back to the toilet. "Oh god..."

Alex winced as April retched once more, uncertain of what to do.

"I'm being s-sick," she gasped again. "I don't need you to w-watch me throw up. I wanna be alone...just-get out! Get out! Can you do that? Can you just- Oh..oh..."

He could kind of understand April, but that didn't stop the words from stinging Alex slightly. He just wanted to do something. Hold her hair or rub her shoulders. To help somehow. Jesus! Unable to contain his frustration, he glowered and stood up, mumbling, "Whatever."

As Alex exited the bathroom and carefully shut the door behind him, muffling the sounds of her puking from the rest of the house. He sat down in a huff on the couch again, glowering at a wide eyed Meredith and Cristina.

He shrugged and fumbled for an explanation that didn't reflect his frustration or sound totally bogus, "It's what she gets for eating all that freaking candy corn."

Feeling two sets of eyes watching him closely Alex crossed his arms and shrugged again, "I was trying to be a good fiancee and crap, you can't tell me I wasn't...she kicked me out...Stop looking at me!"

"Oh my god!" Cristina exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "I figured it out!"

"What?" Mer leaned forward eagerly.

"Why Alex has been all gooey-eyed over the tiny tots!"

"What?" Mer pressed again.

"And you said April's been acting all weird..."

"Yeah?"

Cristina elbowed Alex, "You knocked Kepner up didn't you?"

"Shut up!" Alex felt his cheeks flush, and tried to stand up and walk away from his friends. Neither Meredith nor Cristina would have it, and the two of them pulled him back down to the couch between them.

"And before the wedding too," Cristina continued. "Way classy."

After a flicker of something solemn, Mer grinned, "Seriously?"

"You did, didn't you?" Cristina was freakin' smiling too. "You so did. Look at his face."

The corners of his mouth twitched. Even though he was kind of peeved about April kicking him out, Alex found it hard not to smile little bit, thinking of his kid. With fingers and toes and reflexes. His future daughter.

"Okay..." he said finally, unable to control his smirk. "April is pregnant. But...we haven't er, told anyone yet though...so don't go blabbing it around."

"Wow. Congratulations," Meredith said earnestly.

"Spawn is spawning. The world should be worried," Cristina grinned.

"Shut up."

April sniffed loudly, and used a hand to dab at her tears. Next to her, Alex shoved a wad of tissue, as she struggled to control herself. She smiled gratefully and blew her nose. April felt bad. She'd been so hot and cold with Alex lately and she didn't know how to prevent it. It seemed like they were bickering constantly. He was doing his best, and he was being really great. She was just a bundle of emotions that seemed to flip on a switch. She felt like she was just along for the ride. April knew it was because of her pregnancy hormones and everything, but on top of all her other anxieties, her unpredictable moods were making her even more nervous. It had been a hell of a week.

Although today, right at this very moment, sitting in the doctors office, April thought she had the right to be blubbering. After all she'd just heard the sound of her child's heartbeat for the very first time. And gotten a fleeting glimpse of the baby on the ultrasound. Most perfect little gray blob April had ever seen. Everything was so real. There was a heartbeat! Loud and clear and string. Alive. She thought she could allow herself to be emotional over that.

Alex reached his hand over to the armrest on her chair, holding out the little copy of the ultrasound image that the technician had printed, for her to see, "Pretty cool."

"Yeah," April replied finally getting a handle of herself and wiping the last of her tears away. She grinned at him, slipping one hand into his. Alex was being so sweet, almost uncharacteristically, but she was still worried about his response to the pregnancy. He and Arizona's proposal to the board had been approved, but the grants were still a little bit in limbo because neither of them would be able to go to Africa for an extended amount of time in the near future to administer the funds and lay the ground word for the project. It would have been perfect for Alex, a great way to finish his fellowship and kick start his career as a full attending. April didn't have any fellowship work that was nearly as grand as the Africa project, but many of her own projects and training programs were also in danger of being put on hold too.

Which was kind of her fault. Her body's anyway. Because apparently the pill wasn't enough. She sighed. Freakin' peppy ovaries. Sort of, anyway. April knew Alex was frustrated that his project was stalled somewhat, but no matter how much she tried to get him to open up, he wasn't talking about it with her. Alex didn't seem to want to talk at all. Every time April tried, he just...and then they ended up...well. She couldn't really complain about that.

April glanced up when the OB, Gavin McCaw strode in, all smiles, clicking his pen and carrying her chart. She'd followed Callie's advice, and so far she found she liked Dr. McCaw, he was young, having only just finished his OB/GYN fellowship three years ago. He was calm and had a sunny disposition that appealed to April right now. But she also suspected that those were the very reasons Alex was a little terse with the other doctor. He sniffed and crossed his arms when the other man came in, making April feel suddenly irritated. So what if he didn't like her doctor? She liked McCaw, and planned to keep him, and that was that.

She couldn't stop herself from tossing a glare in Alex's direction, which made his forehead wrinkle in confusion. Of course, only a second later, April felt very silly. Alex wasn't very friendly with with most people. And he'd never even said anything about not liking Dr. McCaw, or making April pick a new doctor. She was just being...ridiculous once again. April winced and gave Alex and apologetic smile as Dr. McCaw began to speak.

"Okay guys," he said brightly. "That first ultrasound is something, huh? I've had a chance to look at your chart and your blood work, as well as the scan. Things are looking really good. I see good growth and no abnormalities. Mom is young and fit. Baby is very healthy."

April released a breath that she didn't even realize she was holding. It was healthy. The baby was healthy. That was amazing. They'd been waiting to tell people until after they new it was all okay. We'll sort of. At least, she didn't think Alex had told anyone. April had trouble keeping secrets in general, and this was almost too much to bear. She hadn't been able to not tell Jackson. He remained her very best friend, and when she'd bumped into him at work the day after she'd found out, April hadn't been able to stop herself from telling him. Jackson's eyes and lit up and he'd grinned, uttering a surprised, "Really? That's wonderful. You'll be a great mom." Which was exactly the boost to her confidence that April had needed. Then they'd hugged, and he'd agreed not to share the news until April and Alex were ready. She didn't feel so bad about it. Jackson was trustworthy. April was sure Alex wouldn't mind.

"Uh, growth's good?" Alex asked. "I mean, everything looks fine?"

"Absolutely, Dad," Dr. McCaw replied, making Alex wince and April giggle. It was kind of weird to hear themselves refered to as 'Mom' and 'Dad'.

"It's Dr. Karev..."

Dr. McCaw shrugged, "Of course, Dr. Karev. Right now, I'd say Baby is about the size of a lime, which is well within the acceptable range for this gestational age. Sometime in early May, you two should have a healthy baby. However, I would like to ask a few questions about both of your family histories to see if anything warrants further, more comprehensive and invasive screening. Based on what I am seeing here, I doubt you'll need it, but it never hurts to ask. Do either of you have any family history of genetic or chromosomal abnormalities, or problems in pregnancy?"

"Not really," April bit her lip and looked at the ceiling, while Alex shrugged. "Well," she amended. "One of my cousins has Down Syndrome. And...my sister Libby had preeclampsia with her second daughter..."

McCaw clicked his pen and then began scribbling in her chart. He glanced up to her reassuringly and said, "Good to know, but I can say that based on the test results I have now, I think it is very unlikely your baby has downs. That's something we can already look for in a basic blood exam. Your baby has none of the markers, so I still don't think there is a need for more invasive tests at this juncture, unless you insist on them. We can keep an eye on you for preeclampsia as your pregnancy continues."

April nodded, feeling relief again.

"Dr. Karev?" McCaw continued, smiling nervously at a sullen and suddenly defensive looking Alex. "Any family conditions we should be worrying about?"

"Oh, not much," Alex replied sarcastically. "My kid brother and my mom are crazy..."

"Alex!"

"I-I'm afraid I don't really understand-" Dr. McCaw continued, his eyes darting back and forth between April, Alex, and her chart.

Shaking her head April interrupted, "He means that his brother and his mother have some mental issues, paranoid delusions and that sort of thing. They are in treatment, but it's hard for them to function without assistance at the moment."

"Ah," McCaw nodded and pursed his lips as he held eye contact with Alex. "I'm afraid we can't really a test for that sort of condition at this point."

"Right," Alex snorted, turning away from both April and Dr. McCaw. "We'll just find out on accident someday when the kid tries to kill someone."

April sniffed and stared at her hands, feeling a strange mixture of anger, pity, fear, and embarrassment. She could understand Alex's concerns. His mother's condition had shattered his childhood, and his brother's condition had messed up his sister's. It was more than a valid concern. Hell, April had considered what it might mean if her child did inherit the conditions Alex's relatives had and the idea terrified her. There was always a chance.

And it frustrated April all the more because it was something Alex still rarely talked about. They'd certainly never talked about what it might mean when they had a family. Granted, both Alex and April had thought they'd have more time before they had children, but he'd never offered more than the barest minimum of details about his family's problems. Even now. April had only been able to learn what conditions they actually had from talking with Amber. She just wished he would open up and talk to her more about it. That was all.

In her own considerations on dealing with a child that had a mental condition, April had concluded that it would be utterly devastating but she knew she would still love him or her. And it was probably a her, knowing her family. Four sisters; four nieces. April couldn't actually remember the last male born into either side of the family without marrying in. It actually might be her Dad or one of her cousin's kids. She already loved this baby so much and no condition they could ever have would change that. And, if her child did have paranoid schizophrenia, or depression or whatever, April would make damned sure they got the right help. Much sooner than Aaron or Rita Karev had gotten it.

"While I agree that there is a genetic component to mental disorders, I think environment also plays a big factor. Also consider that April brings an entirely different gene pool into the equation," McCaw cut into the awkward silence.

"And, since you are both very aware of Dr. Karev's family background, I think it puts you in a better position to enforce early treatment should the need ever arise. You'll be watching, you might see signs earlier, if they are there. And do remember that these conditions often range in severity. Sometimes knowledge is power. However, I want to be perfectly clear when I tell you that there is no reason to believe this baby has inherited any of your family's conditions. Just because your mother and brother are affected, does not mean that your child will be."

"Whatever," Alex mumbled, looking at his feet.

April smiled apologetically at Dr. McCaw, knowing that Alex would probably never want to speak much about his family. She still felt that he wouldn't seem so rude to the OB, if he'd have just talked about his concerns with her before hand. Then she could have planned how to handle it better.

"Okay...well," Dr. McCaw cleared his throat and clicked his pen again, flipping through the chart once more, seemingly unfazed by Alex's silent and sullen expression. "Moving on...I have another question, more for you April. Your own records indicate that you do have a prescription for the pill. I know your a physician, so I'm sure you know to do this, but I just wanted to make sure...you've stopped taking it yes?"

"Oh! Y-yes," she replied. "Of course. As soon as I knew..."

McCaw added another scribble to April's chart and glanced up again flicking his gaze between her and Alex who continued to look everywhere but the other man, "And this was prescribed exclusively for birth control?"

Didn't work very well.

"That would probably be why it's called the birth control pill," Alex muttered under his breath, just loudly enough for everyone to hear.

April rolled her eyes. He knew as well as she did that the pill did have other applications. Dr. McCaw was obviously trying to see if she had other underlying conditions that caused irregular cycles that he should be aware of such as PCOS, or endometriosis. Alex was just finding excuses to be a jerk. She glared and all he did was shuffle his feet on the linoleum floor.

"Actually," April replied, knowing that she'd have to tell the truth. "It was prescribed for birth control, but also to-to regulate things..."

She flushed and ducked her head, strangely uncomfortable talking about this sort of stuff with Alex in the room. Odd that it was easier to talk about this with your doctor, a virtual stranger, than with your fiancee, who you'd lived with for the past two years. But somehow April thought it would have been easier to talk about without Alex around. Though, he did seem to still be frustrated and oblivious as he continued to squeak his shoes on the shiny floor.

"Things haven't been...uh," April continued, haltingly, gesturing vaguely with her hands. "Completely normal since..."

She reached to the side of her chair and fumbled with the smooth handle of her cane, "I mean I was always super regular, unless I was stressed or something...but then the earthquake happened and..."

Shrugging, April cleared her throat and stared at her own feet. God, this felt mortifying.

"Your cycle got kind of messed up after your accident," Dr. McCaw thankfully concluded for her. She nodded and he continued, still making an effort to include Alex in the conversation by looking his direction, "It was a traumatic event and physiologically so were the surgeries that followed. It's a very understandable side affect. To be honest, irregularity like this would be a concern to me if you were trying to get pregnant. Clearly, in this case that wasn't a problem. However, it is something you should be aware of in the future. If you ever decide to expand your family, it's something you should keep in mind."

Alex finally seemed to be paying more serious attention, at least toward April because he glanced up from his shoes finally, and held her gaze for a moment. His eyes, to April's relief, contained the same sentiment as her own. Now was definitely not the time to worry about all of that. Especially when it might never even be a problem. She just wanted to focus on this handling this pregnancy and this baby.

"Lastly," McCaw continued, writing in the chart again and turning back to April. "I want to say that I think the biggest concerns I have for this pregnancy have to do with your stress levels and balance. Looking at your vitals today, I found that you had an elevated heart rate, and it seems to be a somewhat frequent occurrence for you, according to your charts from your stay at Seattle Grace last year."

April shifted guiltily. Ironically, she knew that her heart rate was increasing at that very moment because of her guilt. She knew she was a very highly strung person, and that it did cause her a lot more stress than she observed that other people had. She was working on being a bit more laid back, but sometimes April still found it difficult to avoid getting stressed out.

"Balance is also an issue. I see that you are beginning to use your walking stick again, and I think that is excellent. The larger you get, the more prone to a falling pregnant women become. You are at a higher risk already," McCaw said kindly.

Alex nudged her slightly and made a face, skeptically mouthing 'walking stick?'

"So your homework Mom, is to relax. Try to stay calm. Do things that make you feel happy. Take long baths, maybe coax Dad here to give you a massage, meditate..." the OB continued. "And you also just need to be extra vigilant about how you move. Remember the fable, 'slow and steady wins the race'."

Easier said than done. April was a trauma surgeon. Moving slowly and carefully wasn't exactly the way things worked in the ER. But she had a good set of colleagues, residents and interns that she trusted to pick up for her inability to do certain physical things. They would and could if need be.

She nodded and said, "Okay. Thank you, Dr. McCaw."

The OB laid her chart down on a cart and held his pen with the fingers of both his hands, "Not a problem. I hope this is going to be a fun journey for both of you, and I'll do what I can to keep things smooth sailing. Do either of you have any questions?"

April shook her head. The doctor had certainly covered a lot of what she had been concerned about for the time being, and had alleviated a few of her fears. To her shock, however, Alex spoke.

"What about puking?"

McCaw pulled his lips into a half smile and took the opportunity to give Alex a taste of his own medicine by replying sarcastically, "Dad's been having some puke problems?"

"No," Alex huffed, squinting at the other doctor. "Look: I've worked with pregnant women before, and to me it just seems like April's been having more severe morning sickness comparatively...so I'm just asking...is there anything that can be done to, you know, help her keep stuff down?"

Just when April had been getting frustrated and fed up with her fiancee's attitude and behavior throughout the whole appointment, he had to go and be all thoughtful and protective. She didn't really think her bouts of vomiting and nausea were that bad, although admittedly she had no real marker to compare it too. Now that they'd had this appointment and could begin telling people, April knew she'd consult her mom and her sisters about morning sickness at the very least. Probably Callie too. And it usually didn't last beyond the first trimester, so she wasn't hadn't been worried. But April thought it was sweet that Alex was.

Damn. He made it so hard to stay mad.

"Well," McCaw replied seriously. "Nausea is a normal symptom. April doesn't appear to be suffering from actual malnutrition or dehydration as a result. It also doesn't appear to be interfering with her daily functioning...work and the like..."

April nodded in agreement and he continued, "So, I don't think that I need to prescribe anti-nausea medication at this time, unless you requested it. My best advice would be to accommodate any the food cravings or aversions you have. Some more 'folk' type remedies you could think about trying are drinking ginger ale, or tea. My wife found that eating saltine crackers before she got out of bed was a major help. Some say cabbage makes a difference, but please don't quote me on that..."

The last comment made April laugh, and even Alex had a small smirk.

"Okay," Dr. McCaw said. "I will be seeing all of you at the next appointment. Oh! Be thinking about whether or not you want to find out Baby's sex in advance. In the next several weeks we should be able to determine gender via ultrasound..."

Alex leaned over and smirked in April's direction, "Oh, I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a girl..."

"Really?" April smiled. "Me too!"

He shrugged, "You have a billion sisters."

McCaw chuckled as he made his way out of the exam room, calling over his shoulder, "Well alright, we'll see if you two are right. 50/50 odds.

After they were alone, Alex snorted, "You're a Kepner, you've got a house advantage."

Shaking her head, April used her cane to pull herself into a standing position, "You're ridiculous."

And so hard to stay angry with.

"I repeat," Alex agreed, rising also. "A billion sisters! Those odds are steep!"

Meredith carefully pulled her car into her driveway, parking next to Derek's. She sighed and rested her head on the steering wheel for a moment, pausing to collect herself and letting a story about the middle east finish on NPR. It had been a long shift. She'd had 3 surgeries in a row, and one of the tumors she'd operated on had required her to work with Dr. Sloan to split open the patient's soft pallet. She knew it was one of the most difficult surgeries to recover from, and she felt mildly guilty that that was the most effective way to remove the tumor. Meredith knew that wasn't the only reason she'd been down lately, but it was the only one she was willing to acknowledge.

When the story finished, she turned of the car's engine and headed into the house. It wasn't like the day hadn't had it's bright spots though. Alex and April had finally told everyone over lunch that they were having a baby. Alex had been all shrugs and mutters, while April had seemed unable to stop smiling or to prevent her cheeks from turning deeper and deeper shades of red. Congratulations had been offered all around along with the requisite amount of good-natured ribbing.

Of course, it was humorously clear to Meredith that to at least three people at the table, namely herself, Jackson and Miranda Bailey, the announcement had been no surprise. She'd found out from Alex the previous weekend, Jackson said that April had let slip to him sometime last week, and apparently Bailey had suspected for a while. Callie also seemed to know too. But it wasn't entirely obvious yet. April wasn't really showing. She was just a little thicker around the middle, and had been using her cane more. The news did explain to Meredith why Kepner had been acting strange lately, even for her.

Sighing Meredith, dumped her purse and coat onto the living room couch. She was happy for Alex and April. Really, she was. They deserved to be happy. Alex deserved every happy ending he could get. And she'd long thought he'd be a brilliant father. And she thought April was the kind of person who fit the 'mom' type of bill. Meredith was happy for them. Really. She was.

It was just hard. Because Meredith could tell that this pregnancy wasn't planned. And a small part of her felt jealous. Because it seemed that April had just gotten pregnant. Just like that. And even though it had nothing to do with her, it reminded Meredith of the pain of her own miscarriage and infertility struggles. It was always like this when a friend of their first became pregnant, even though she knew she'd found peace with the whole thing. Zola was her baby. She'd been meant to be their baby. That still didn't completely dull the pain of her loss. She thought it might take a lifetime to completely reconcile, but she had found peace. And she wasn't about to let her own sadnesses dampen the happiness she had for her friends but also the happiness in her own life.

Shaking herself slightly, Meredith make her way through her living room and dining room to the kitchen. The place was unusually quiet. A smile came to her face as she looked out the back sliding glass window as caught sight of Derek and Zola as they ostensibly raked the leaves. There were only a few garbage bags filled and it looked more like her husband had racked the dead leaves into neat piles and tossed the little girl on top.

Sliding the door open and walking out onto the deck, Meredith exclaimed, "Here you are!"

"Mommy! You home!" Zola shrieked gleefully, running up and pulling her into a hug. How could you feel sorry for yourself when you had this little girl who was so happy to see you.

Meredith pulled her daughter close, "Are you doing yard work? Are you helping Daddy on his day off?"

"We rwaked!"

"You did a really good job Zola," Derek added, leaning against his rake and smiling. "Smashed all my piles."

Zola turned to her father and giggled, wiggling her shoulders and breaking away to run back into the back yard and launching herself at a pile of leaves. "Look at me!"

Derek climbed up on the deck and gave Meredith a kiss on the cheek wrapping one arm around her shoulder, "How was today?"

"It was okay," she replied. "Good actually. Did you hear the news?"

"About Karev and Kepner? Yeah," Derek said watching her closely. "Mark texted me."

"Of course he did, the gossip..."

Zola was running around the back yard throwing handfuls of leaves, laughing. They let her run. She was having a good time and it would tire her out a little before dinner.

"It's good for them. Alex has come a long away," Derek continued. "April too, really. I think they can be good parents. You feel...okay about it?"

Meredith smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder. He knew her so well. "I..I do. I am okay. I'm happy for them."

"Good. Me too," Derek whispered into her hair.

"I think they are both a little terrified though..."

"It's pretty scary becoming a parent."

"I need to talk to Alex...and April too," Meredith added.

"About the house?"

"I'm not desperate to fill it up with resident renters, Derek. They can stay as long as they like. I mean I need to help them...be there for them."

"What? We're the parenting experts now?"

"No, but it's nice to know you have support," she replied, remembering how much her friends had been there for herself and Derek when they thought they'd lost Zola. Alex had felt exceptionally guilty over his role in the whole thing, and so had been a pillar of support for her. He'd said that giving up was lame. And eventually she'd believed him. Now Meredith wanted to return the favor.

"Well," Derek continued. "I have some gossip that you probably don't know!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes. Mark Sloan is going to Portland, to see your sister."

"He is?"

"They arranged it at Halloween."

"Finally," Meredith shook her head.

"Finally."

"You think they'll get things sorted out this time?"

"I think that's what Mark wants," Derek answered.

"Lexie too."

"Mommy! Daddy! Play with me!" Zola shouted from the backyard.

"Good for them," Meredith sighed pulling out of Derek's embrace and heading down the deck steps to the grass. "Good for all of us."