I hope I'm not annoying anyone with these fast updates, but I can't help it. Some of you probably have to read two chapters at once now ;) I hope you don't mind. Anyways, thanks for your reviews and I'd appreciate to hear all of your thoughts (even if there could already be a next chapter!). I'm happy that some of you like my story. Yeah ;-)

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"It's not going to hurt. I thought you wanted to do that?" Alex asked Laura who cried into his chest while she was waiting to get her ears pierced. Sometimes he couldn't get kids. Laura wanted to have her ears pierced for a long time because her big sister had had that too but now she was shivering and holding him tightly as if this was the scariest thing ever.

"I want to do it, mommy!" Sofia said over and over again but Arizona and Callie shook their heads.

"When you're older!" Arizona told her but Sofia pointed at a baby.

"That's a baby and she gets her ears pierced too! I wanna do it. I wanna do it!" Sofia pouted and was about to get one of her famous tantrums. She threw herself onto the ground and kicked around with her small feet. In this moment Arizona could always see her wife in her daughter. Of course Callie never threw herself on the ground but Callie was a great whiner too and could go on and on if she wanted to have something that she couldn't get.

"She's got a point!" Callie told Arizona who looked shocked at her wife. Both of them decided to ignore her temper tantrum but when people started to watch Callie kneed down and just pointed a finger at her daughter. "Stop, Sofia, now!"

"Callie, she's three."

"So? I got mine as a baby too," Callie answered and shrugged her shoulders.

A little later Sofia sat in the chair and smiled happily up at her loved ones. Arizona was sure that her baby girl didn't really understand what was happening and tried to convince her to change her mind, "Sofia, you don't have to do that," she didn't really like the idea that her baby girl would feel pain in a minute and probably cry real hard. She thought that three years were too young to get your ears pierced.

"I want to, momma. I'll be looking pretty," Sofia said and held her mother's hands. She closed her eyes when the two women put something around her earlobes. When she felt a short sting, she moaned but then opened her eyes again. "Is it over? Am I pretty now?"

"Oh my baby, I'm so proud of you and you look extremely pretty," Callie hugged Sofia who smiled wildly and jumped out of the chair to look into the mirror. Arizona kissed Sofia's cheek over and over again and had to sit down on a chair. Walking through the forest had exhausted her but she was very proud how her little girl had amazed her again.

"It didn't hurt, Laura!" Sofia told Laura who was in Alex arms and looked extremely exhausted and scared. Laura nodded and sat down on the chair. Her whole body was shivering and Alex held her hand while Arizona held the other one.

"You don't have to do that," Alex said, he hated seeing Laura like this "Maybe it was a bad idea. We can do it next year or…never. You don't need earrings. You're pretty without them."

"But…I…want…to!" Laura sobbed and bit her own lip.

Arizona nodded and then the women put something around Laura's ear. Immediately Laura started to cry heavier and bit her lip harder, so that it was almost bleeding.

"Laura, look at us," Arizona said and Laura looked at her with a scared expression while tears didn't stop rolling down her cheek.

"I think she shouldn't do it now," Arizona whispered to Alex who nodded but almost fell down when Callie pushed him out of the way.

"You really want to do it, right?" Callie asked Laura who sobbed loudly but nodded. "You know, sometimes it's hard to get over your fears but in the end you'll be even stronger. If you say no, it's perfectly fine. You can get your ears pierced whenever you want but you decide and not Alex or Arizona. They are softies anyways!"

Laura half sobbed and half laughed when Callie called them softies. "So let's do it all together," Callie pulled Laura out of the chair, put her onto her lap and then sat down with her again."Can I tell you a secret?" Callie whispered into Laura's ears and tried to calm her down. She felt the little girl's heart racing very fast and hoped that her method was working. "I have a fear too. I hate, hate, hate talking in front of a big group of people. I hate it so much that my heart always starts racing and that I have to puke and when I'm on stage I can't talk loud or get a proper sentence out of my mouth."

"Oh yeah, it's hilarious, she…," Alex shut up when Callie looked down madly at him.

"What I want to say is that this is my fear but every time after I've faced it and after I've talked to all those people, I feel good. And then I'm really proud of myself. So, it will just be a tiny moment of pain and then you'll feel great and we all will be very proud of you, okay?"

"Okay," Laura whispered but couldn't stop sobbing. Arizona and Alex held her hands while Sofia put hers onto her knees and smiled up at the bigger girl.

"I closed my eyes," Sofia suggested and immediately Laura closed them too. She flinched and held her breath when she felt a sting.

"It's over, honey. You can open your eyes again. You did it! We're so proud!" Arizona squeezed her hands. Alex slung his arm around her and gave her a mirror. Laura smiled into the mirror but then fell into Arizona's arms and sobbed heavily.

Some minutes later everything was forgotten and Sofia and Laura were proud of their new earrings. "They are so cute together!" Arizona whispered to Callie while she looked at Sofia and Laura who were holding hands.

"Definitely!" Callie said and then turned around to Alex.

"Laura is lucky to have you in her life!" Callie said to Alex who immediately looked mad at her.
"I said no comments."

"I don't get you, Alex. When did you decide that you want to adopt her?" Callie didn't listen to him at all. She was curious and she wanted to know the whole story. It was just so out of character that Alex would want to adopt a child. He loved his freedom and Callie knew what an ignorant jerk he could be.

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Alex tried to spend every minute possible with Laura since she had awoken from her coma. The little girl was not talking any more. All she did was staring into space while he tried anything to cheer her up. "Hey, I brought my computer and a Disney movie! I hate Disney and prefer playing the Playstation but I bet you love Disney. That's what little girls love, right?"

Laura didn't look up at him. She just stared out of the window. "Which one do you want? This or that?" he held up two DVD's and hoped that he would get through to her but somehow nothing was working. He had tried to stop visiting her and he had tried to get her out of his mind but somehow he couldn't. He just knew how she felt. Alone. Although he would never admit that, he knew the feeling of being alone all too well and he didn't think that it was right that a girl who had lost her whole family, who was only five and had barely survived a horrible accident, should be alone right now.

"Are you my new dad?" Laura suddenly asked Alex who looked extremely shocked.

"What? No! Of course not. Never!" Alex said fast. Honestly he had not thought about that for one second. He loved his freedom and he definitely loved having no responsibilities. Adopting a child was the last point on his list. To be true, it wasn't even on his list. He didn't want biological nor adopted children. Never. He was just there right now until Laura would leave the hospital and then he would forget her and keep on being his normal self.

Nevertheless he wondered why Laura was asking him, "How…how come you ask?"

"I heard a woman talk. She said that I'll have a new mom and dad." Laura made a pause and held her chest in pain, "I don't want a new mom and dad. I want my mommy and daddy!" Laura cried into her pillow.

Alex looked down sadly and shook his head. He hated when social workers thought that kids couldn't hear their talking, "I know. I know and…you know what, your mom and dad are always there. Your brother and sister too. They are…they are just in heaven."

"I want to be there too!" Laura whispered.

"But they want you to live as long as possible. A happy life. And you know what, they have a piece of you. That's why you will always be connected. They have your leg!"

"They have my leg?" Laura asked shocked.

"Um…yeah. They didn't want to miss you and that's…um…that's why they have a piece of you…it…in heaven it doesn't look like a leg but like…like a ball. A pink ball and they can play with it and think of you. They can even look down from up there and in your dream you will meet them." Alex tried to come up with a nice story.

"I want to have a piece of them too!" Laura whispered sadly.

"Oh, you have a big piece of them. Right in here. In your heart. Forever and always and nobody can take it away from you!" Alex explained to her and then started the DVD.

When he came home to change into new clothes, he couldn't stop thinking about Laura's question. He was old enough to adopt her. He had money. He was a doctor. He liked her and he knew that he could be responsible if he wanted. But adopting a child was a huge deal. Something that Alex would never do! He was Alex Karev, for god's sake.

"Damn it!" Alex took his keys and went to a bar. He drank one shot after another and ended up in bed with a woman he had just met. He threw her out of his apartment the next morning. That was the Alex people knew. He was selfish, right? He wasn't the fatherly type of person.

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"So you didn't want to adopt her? I'm confused" Callie asked.

"Adoption is huge deal Torres and I never wanted to have children. Children are annoying. They are egoistic and whine and puke. It's just not my thing," Alex admitted, "But Laura is different and she's not like normal children."

"So when did you decide that you want to adopt her?" Arizona asked curiously. It was the first time that Alex talked that much and let them see a new version of him.

"Is this an interrogation or what?" Alex answered annoyed, "Fine, I decided to adopt her when she was in a foster family that wasn't good for her. They didn't care for her and didn't allow her to see me. That was a year ago. Luckily these idiots gave her back to the orphanage," Alex answered honestly and took a sip from his coke.

"So you decided to adopt her so that no one else could adopt her?" Callie raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes. Such motives weren't really the right ones when it came to adopting a child. It wasn't that Callie didn't like Alex but sometimes she didn't know what her wife really saw in him. She was definitely not the only one who wondered about their relationship in the hospital and Callie still thought that Alex had had no right to yell at her that much because of Laura. She could see that he was great with the child but she also thought that Alex was too immature and selfish to care for anyone for longer than a weekend.

"Yes, well no. Look, if I had a real choice I wouldn't adopt her. I'd want her parents to live and take care of her. But they are dead. I don't want kids but I don't want Laura to stay with any other foster family or in the orphanage either. She's not happy there and she likes it at my place. So there's no other option and I can't stand to see her sad. She deserves to be happy because she's the best kid you can ever meet. Okay, now stop interrogating me."

"You'd be a great dad, Alex," Arizona told him and smiled proudly when Alex blushed a little.

"Whooaaaw, slow it down, Robbins." Alex answered nervously.

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The kids were watching TV while Alex, Arizona and Callie prepared dinner. Arizona couldn't really walk any more because her stomp was hurting extremely from the stressful day. "When are you coming back, Robbins?" Callie immediately shook her head. She knew that her wife hated such questions. "What?" Alex shrugged his shoulders and cut the cucumber, "We can't wait for her for ages. We need her, so don't look at me like that. So, when are you coming back?" He turned around and looked at his mentee.

"Karev," Arizona whispered and wanted him to stop.

"Do you still have phantom pain?" Alex continued asking and didn't care that Arizona didn't want to answer all those questions.

"Yes and I'm not ready to work yet," Arizona answered honestly, hoping that he would stop now.

"You'll never be ready. It's like having kids. You don't know what to expect, so you just jump into all the responsibilities without thinking that much. Get over your fear and come back."

"Since when are you so wise?" Callie laughed and went through Arizona's long her.

"Since my mentee left me hanging," Alex smirked.

"I left you hanging? I was in a plane crash and lost my leg for god's sake," Arizona yelled a little at him.
"That was months ago. No excuse any more," Alex pointed at her leg and could see that Arizona was about to freak out.

"Alex, stop it, okay?" Callie was freaking out herself a little. The least she wanted now was a fight between the two.

"What? I'm just saying what everyone is thinking," Alex turned his back to him and continued preparing dinner.

"You're an asshole, Alex," Arizona stood up madly and went to the kids to slump down madly in between them with crossed arms. Then she looked down at Laura who scratched her prosthesis a little as if it was itching. "Laura, how long did it take for you to…you know do everything with your prosthesis?"

"Huh?" Laura looked away from the TV and up at Arizona. She then shrugged her shoulders, "Not long. Alex and I had my champ list."

"Your what?" Arizona asked perplexed and pulled a tired Sofia onto her lap.

"My champ list. Things that I had to learn again," Laura answered as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

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Five-year-old Laura cheered, "We're already at number two!"

"High five!" Alex said and high fived with the little girl, "that means that you're now officially walking without falling after ten steps. Let's go to the next step then." Alex took out a long list that he had written for Laura.

"What does the next step say?" Laura asked curiously.

"It says "kicking a ball"" Alex read it and raised an eyebrow, "What a coincidence, I have a ball in my car!" He walked to his car with Laura but could see her fear. "Don't worry, "getting into a car" is point number 25!"

"Okay," Laura whispered sadly and took the ball. Kicking it was harder than it seemed. She always lost the balance and fell down onto her butt. But when she managed to kick it, Alex took her into his arms and ran around with her and cheered.

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"That's so cute," Arizona answered with a soft smile.

"We went swimming, horse riding and all that stuff that was new now. I can even ride a bicycle. Alex loves challenges and I do too now," Laura continued watching the TV.

"So are you through with your champ list now?"

"No, there are many steps left. Sometimes we add some. Alex said that life is a challenge, that's why my list will never end," Laura yawned tiredly and leaned closer.

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