Author's Notes: Thank you everyone for the kind reviews on the last chapter! I really struggled and spent way too much time on Alex's last line so for several of you to comment about it was so great for me and I appreciate every one of you so much!
Happy Grey's Day! Finally!
Jo sat nervously in a makeshift office outside of the NICU with her foot tapping quickly on the linoleum floor. She drummed her left hand on her thigh mindlessly as her gaze darted around the room taking in the sparse furnishings. Her gaze snapped to Alex as he took her hand into his, "Stop. You're making me nervous."
"We should be nervous. Nothing good can come from being called into this room," Jo pointed out anxiously.
"You're letting your emotions get the best of you," Alex began before realizing his words and giving a scared look in her direction.
"Oh I'm emotional am I? Cause that's what happens to women that give birth right? I'm an irrational, emotional ball of crazy?"
"I just said emotional," Alex said trying half-heartedly to defend himself.
"They are taking our daughter off the ventilator as we speak. That doesn't scare you?"
"That some moron resident is taking a tube out of her very tiny throat and they refused to let us watch? Yeah if I think about it, which is why I say don't think about it."
"Just because he's a resident doesn't make him a moron," Jo countered.
"Here we go," Alex muttered.
"I'm still a resident in case you've forgotten and I've been extubating babies for a couple of years now," Jo said defiantly.
"Excellent point," Alex said with a small smile.
"I'll have ... Oh you think you're so cool don't you jerk? Please, you are one blood draw away from having a complete meltdown," Jo said with a giggle.
"So I don't like watching her get blood drawn, big deal, hundreds of thousands of fathers all over the world have the same issue. It makes me normal."
"How many of those fathers are brilliant pediatric surgeons? Face it, you're close to losing it too, we're an emotional mess," she teased. Her foot once again began tapping in the silence, "What could possibly be taking them this long?"
Alex chuckled, "You did not just ask that. Now who's being a moron resident?"
Jo glanced up quickly to meet his eyes, "Did you really just call me a moron?" she asked in disbelief.
Alex smirked, "Well if the shoe fits. Look, they're busy doctors Jo, and our baby thankfully is not critical anymore. They'll get to us when they can."
Jo's eyebrows scrunched in confusion and hurt, "Do you really think I'm a moron?" she asked softly.
Alex looked at her panicked, "Jo, I..."
"You really feel that way," she said certainly. "Why haven't I noticed this before?" she asked in a trembling voice as tears began to roll down her cheeks.
Alex rubbed her hand and looked at the ground, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way."
"What other way is there to mean it? Oh God, my husband doesn't think I have sense enough to take care of our baby!" she exclaimed as she started to sob while furiously swiping at her eyes with her good hand.
Alex began rubbing circles on her back, "I didn't even say that. You are a wonderful mother and definitely no moron, okay?" Alex looked on worriedly as Jo continued to sob. Suddenly his eyes narrowed, "Wait, are you...are you faking right now?" he asked in a high pitched voice.
Jo cut her eyes at him and began laughing, "You earned that one jerk. Word to the wise, don't mess with me right now. These hormones make crying so much easier than usual. Now will you hand me those tissues?" she asked as she pointed to the table beside him.
Alex handed her the box, "That wasn't nice."
Jo cut her eyes at him again, "And calling me a 'moron resident' was?"
Alex smirked at her for a brief moment before breaking the silence, "Have you thought anymore about names?"
"Baby girl is kinda growing on me."
Alex sighed, "Are you incapable of being serious today?"
"I loved your idea of making her name meaningful to this whole experience," Jo said appreciatively.
"Did you like Elizabeth? Or did you want to do something else?"
"I like Elizabeth for her middle name," Jo said truthfully. "Maybe we could name her after one of the nurses that found me."
Alex grinned, "I like that idea."
"Or we could name her Isobel after the doctor that saved me."
Alex narrowed his eyes at her, "That's not funny."
"I'm sorry. You know how inappropriate I can get when I'm nervous."
Alex rolled his eyes and smirked, "No kidding."
Jo looked at him thoughtfully, "Have you ran into her recently? I haven't seen her since I was in the middle of bleeding out. It'd be nice to thank her before we leave."
Jo studied Alex to watch his reaction. He slowly nodded his head in reserved agreement, "I haven't seen her since the day you had that fever when she decided she wasn't going to fight you for me." He turned in her direction to give a teasing smile.
Jo smirked and deadpanned, "That was self-preservation. I had already threatened to kick her ass."
Alex raised his eyebrows in disbelief and gave an amused smile, "You did?"
Jo smiled and leaned forward to quickly kiss him, "Of course I did, she kept popping up and I didn't want you to find out she was here until we were leaving. You're too stressed as it is." She leaned forward again to quickly kiss his cheek.
Alex smiled at her before protesting weakly, "I'm not stressed." He then caressed her face with his hand before initiating a longer kiss. "Do I seem stressed right now?" he asked with a lazy grin before kissing her again softly.
Jo pulled back slightly and smiled at him, "Blood draws. That's all I'm saying."
They were still smiling at each other when the neonatologist breezed in oblivious to what she had interrupted, "Sorry for the delay, but everything is great. She handled the extubation well and is very stable. She's also gained an ounce, so we have a lot of positives here." Alex again reached for Jo's hand and gave it a light squeeze as the doctor focused on her, "How is the pumping going Mrs. Karev?"
"It's good. I was able to pump right before we came in here."
The doctor nodded, "Well she's done well with your milk so far. We've now taken out her feeding tube so we will try a bottle when it's time for her next feeding. If that goes well and you want to, you can try her on the breast later today or early tomorrow."
Jo's heart fluttered with excitement, "Really?"
The older woman smiled, "Yes. Until then, she's ready for her parents to hold her."
Jo felt tears burn her eyes as she turned to Alex to see the same emotions mirrored in his eyes as she squeezed his hand. She smiled brightly at him and he quickly matched it with a huge smile of his own. They carefully moved back into the main area with Jo resting her hand on his back in support as he cautiously meandered through the machines on his new crutches. When they reached their nurse she instructed Jo to sit in a rocker and pulled up a chair for Alex. She then placed his crutches out of the way.
Jo watched anxiously as the nurse opened the isolette to pick up their baby. "Wait," Jo said impulsively. She turned to meet Alex's questioning eyes, "You should hold her first, you're the one with two good arms."
Alex nervously glanced at the nurse before giving Jo a strange look, "You can hold her with one arm Jo. I've seen you hold babies with one arm."
"You should still get to hold her first Alex. You almost died for her," Jo whispered tearfully.
Alex smiled and rubbed her upper arm before countering simply, "So did you." He stared at her for a second and seemed to read her thoughts. He gently wiped her eyes and whispered, "Hey, don't get scared now. We can do this. You are already a great mother, Jo. Baby girl and I couldn't do any better. "
With that the nurse carefully laid the baby in Jo's left arm. The infant gave off a slight grunt before relaxing into the embrace and giving a big yawn. Jo couldn't help the proud smile that came to her lips before she bent down to kiss her daughter's forehead. It seemed like time stood still as she got lost in the moment. She looked back at Alex, who was totally mesmerized by the baby. He then glanced up to meet Jo's eyes and seemed to be struggling with what to say. She smiled at him and blinked her eyes furiously to stop her tears as her emotions once again overwhelmed her, "I love you, Alex. Thank you for knocking me up."
Alex gave her a lopsided grin and laughed under his breath. He reached for their daughter, who grabbed his forefinger and held it tight. He then slowly moved towards Jo to kiss her temple and wrap his left arm around her. "I love you, Jo. Thank you for giving me everything I never thought I deserved."