Chapter 11

"Okay, be good for, Arizona." Alex said gently, as he knelt down in Arizona's front room to say goodbye to his two, young sons for the night. They both looked back at him a little nervously. The looks on their faces reminding Alex a little of the first few times he'd left them in day-care back at Hopkins, when they had looked a a little apprehensive and upset, but also slightly excited. His children hadn't spent many nights away from him and Izzie, but Alex knew as soon as he left they would be absolutely fine with Arizona and Sofia and Callie later on too when she got home from work.

Picking up on both the little boy's anxieties, Arizona smiled at them kindly and said "We're going to have so much fun tonight, aren't we Sofia?" Turning to look at her daughter, who was stood next to her, staring curiously over at Danny and Will Karev.

…..

"Thanks again for having them." Alex said to Arizona, as he stood up to leave.

"No problem," Arizona replied.

Alex was half way out the door, when he turned back and said "You are sure you're happy to have them, aren't you? I mean, I could wait until Callie gets back from work at least, so you don't have to be in charge of three kids on your own."

Arizona let out a small laugh, as she said. "Alex, I've raised my own child and I'm an experienced pediatrician. So, I think that makes me qualified for looking after three kids on my own, don't you?"

Alex laughed too and nodded, as he added a little anxiously again. "You've got mine and Izzie's number's, haven't you?" Arizona laughed again, Alex was such a big softie where his children were concerned. A far cry from the tough guy he had always tried to be in the workplace.

"Yes, for the third time and your number at the hotel. Honestly, they'll be absolutely fine, Alex, and if there's a problem, we'll be sure to call you. So, go and have fun and we'll see you in the morning." Arizona said, as she practically had to push Alex out of the door.

"Thanks," Alex said, sounding a little more relaxed. He knew Arizona would be great with his kids. Although he couldn't help but think that she still wasn't fully aware what she was letting herself in for, having them for the night. From what he had seen of Sofia, she was a little angel compared to his boys most of the time.

…

"Right, who wants pizza and ice cream?...and how about some music?" Arizona said loudly, grinning as she walked back in to the front room to join the children. Trying to take Alex's little boy's minds away from the fact that their Daddy had left them for the night.

"Yeah," all three children yelled excitedly back at Arizona. Alex's children instantly warming to Arizona's bright, cheerful energy. Causing Arizona to gush inside as she placed one hand firmly on her pregnant stomach. She knew that not only was she a first class pediatrician, but she was also a natural with all children. There hadn't been one sick kid that she had dealt with over the years, that hadn't been put at ease by her comforting, magical touch.

Although, Arizona had never thought actual motherhood was for her. That was until Sofia had come along and Arizona had realized first hand the joy that raising a child could bring. But she had still put her foot down over the past few years, when Callie had suggested adding to their family. Thinking things were perfect as they were. So it had been a complete surprise to her when she had changed her mind and all of a sudden Arizona had been hit by her biological clock and the desperate urge to not only add to their family, but to experience having a biological child of her own.

As she turned the music on and started to gently dance in time to the song with the children, Arizona suddenly felt her baby kicking in response to the music too.

"Ooh….quick, Sofia, the baby's kicking. Give me your hand." Arizona said excitedly to her daughter, as Sofia rushed over and placed her little hand on her mother's rounded stomach.

"I felt it, I felt it Mom…." Sofia squealed and Arizona lit up, at the sight of her daughter so excited.

"Arizona," Will Karev, suddenly said curiously, as he wandered up to Arizona and Sofia. "How did the baby get in to your stomach?"

Arizona flinched a little, as she blushed and replied. "Hmm…let me see. Maybe you should ask your Daddy that question sometime."

Will, continued to stare at Arizona inquisitively, as he said "That's what Mommy always says too, when we ask her. She says to ask Daddy.."

"Well, then she's right." Arizona said, as she quickly turned to her daughter and said, "Sofia, will you come and help me with the pizza?"

Putting all thoughts of leaving his kids for the night, firmly out of his mind. Alex, gripped the steering wheel tightly, as he drove back to the hotel to meet Izzie.

He was full of nerves at the inevitable heated conversation that would erupt when he told her he was signing the chief's contract the next day. He was also starting to feel more than a little horny, as he fantasized about Izzie and the thought of what he wanted to do to her later when they finally got the chance to be alone for the first time since he had left Baltimore.

So he needed to try and keep her sweet, he thought, as he ran his hand though his hair and focused on the road ahead. Hoping that she would come around to his way of thinking about moving back to Seattle.

Arizona, breathed a huge sigh of relief, as she heard the front door close and within seconds, Callie walked in to the front room to join her, tossing her keys down on the side and pulling her jacket off.

"Sorry I'm late, rough day." Callie said, sighing as she fell back on to the sofa.

'Well it's not going to get any easier now', Arizona thought to herself, as she smiled back at Callie and raising her eyebrows, she said sweetly. "Glass of wine?"

"Yes please," Callie replied, as Arizona disappeared in to the other room and thinking how quiet it was, Callie said. "Where are the kids?" She had been expecting a little more noise when she got home, with three kids in her house.

...

"Shame I can't join you with the wine." Arizona said, placing the wine glass down next to her wife, sighing a little as she thought how at that exact moment in time, she could really do with an alcoholic drink. Just as there was a loud crash and screaming from the next room and the sound of six little feet thundered across the hallway.

"Uh, oh," Arizona said, rolling her eyes, as she jumped up again and out of the room, saying. "I thought playing hide and seek, would give me a few moments peace."

Callie looked up and before she really had the chance to fully process what was going on. Arizona came back in to the room red-faced, followed by their daughter, Sofia and Danny and Will Karev.

"Mom's home," Sofia yelled, as she rushed up to Callie hugging her, as the two little boys jumped up on to the other sofa, yelling noisily and rowdily to each other.

"Okay, boys, why don't you sit down quietly and I'll put some cartoons on." Arizona said to them firmly.

"Don't want to, we're playing a game." Will Karev said, smirking back at her. Causing Arizona to have a flash back, he looked so much like Alex, it reminded her of the days when as Alex's boss, she'd had to tell him off on a regular basis and he would always answer her back with some smart mouth comment. Arizona then wondered if this was what her un-born child would be like too. Being that it was technically, half Alex too.

Callie then shot Arizona a bemused look, as Arizona continued to try and calm down Alex's sons, and Sofia hugged Callie tighter, as Callie looked over at the two little Karev boys excitedly, running around her front room after each other and causing chaos.

Izzie pulled her phone out of her purse for what seemed like the twentieth time that night, to see there were still no missed calls or messages.

"Iz, they'll be fine." Alex said, as he sat down next to her on the edge of their hotel room bed, handing her a glass of sparkling wine.

"Yeah, I know." Izzie said gently, as she thought, if she was going to choose any couple to leave her children with, Callie and Arizona would be right at the top of her list.

Alex looked at his wife anxiously, his soft brown eyes fixed on her face, as he searched for something to say, as she stared down at her glass. He could sense there was something on her mind. He presumed it was most probably the prospect of moving back to Seattle and being around the baby he'd fathered for Arizona. But he couldn't help but also think it was due to the thought of their frozen embryos, that were still being held at Seattle Grace hospital. Alex knew Izzie wanted another baby to complete their family and when they were back in Baltimore, they could have more distance from it, but here in Seattle, it was going to be a constant reminder that there could be another way they could have one.

Alex cleared his throat and touching her arm gently, he said "Iz, are you okay? Because, you haven't been yourself for the past few days."

Izzie looked up from her glass, to meet Alex's eye, as she said slowly "Alex, we need to talk."

…..

Alex sighed, he had known this was unavoidable. They'd been over things the night before and Izzie wanted them to stay in Baltimore. But she'd agreed to think things through and discuss it again. But Alex had kind of hoped that it wouldn't turn in to another argument and put a dampener on their entire evening.

So before Izzie had the chance to say another word, Alex said. "I know being back here is difficult for you. But, head of departments don't come up very often, you know that. I can't pass up this chance, Iz."

Izzie was silent then, as Alex paused and waited for her to respond. She bit her lip and twisted her wine glass in her hand. Alex was right, she hadn't felt herself for a little while now, even back in Baltimore and she wasn't completely sure why. She knew she was apprehensive about the move back to Seattle, about how things would work out once Arizona's baby was born and how they would fit back in again at Seattle Grace. But, she also knew she wanted to support Alex's career. So, she was confused.

Izzie glanced back at her husband and said meekly. "I still don't see why you can't wait and see what comes up at Hopkins? You could still get offered a promotion there soon?"

"Dr Moyers, not going anywhere, we both know that." Alex snapped back with frustration, they'd already been over this all the night before. He then added in a slightly calmer tone. "Look, I know you're finding the whole situation with Arizona difficult, Iz, but we'll get used to it, I promise." He touched her hand gently, as he finished speaking. He hated seeing his wife unhappy and he wished he could make it better, but he needed her to see things from his point of view, he couldn't pass up this opportunity.

"It's not just that." Izzie said suddenly. "I mean, I can't say I'm entirely comfortable with the fact you've fathered someone else's child. But I've been thinking about it and it's Callie and Arizona, they're our friends and I think somehow, it will be ok. It's more that…"

Izzie paused then, as she tentatively cleared her throat and Alex stared at her, anxiously anticipating what she was about to say next, as eventually she said slowly."I want you to take this opportunity, honestly I do Alex. But, we've been so happy since we got married again. It was like a fresh start for us, no-one knew our past. Back here there are constant reminders of what went wrong for us. I've only been back for a couple of days and I must have already encountered half a dozen people that you slept with when we weren't together…"

Alex almost felt a rush of relief then, that his promiscuous past was the reason Izzie had been acting weirdly and not Arizona's baby, or the thought of using their frozen embryos. He swallowed, as he searched for the right way to express the depth of his feelings on the subject and he put his hand up to gently touch the side of her face, as he looked in to her wide eyes and he said.

"I can't change the past, Iz. I thought I'd lost you forever and you were never coming back. So, I did sleep with a lot of random people. But, it meant nothing, it was just scratching an itch, releasing tension, because I was miserable and lonely, because I couldn't have you and you want to know how it made me feel? Numb, and then ultimately empty, as every single time, I couldn't help but think of you and it made me miss you even more. Because I knew how it felt to make love to you."

Izzie's eyes filled with tears then, as she thought how lucky she was that they'd been given a second chance. She subtly moved closer to him, putting her arms around his neck and pressing herself against his muscular chest, breathing in his strong masculine scent as she lightly pushed her lips in to his, slowly at first, before the kiss started to heat up and become more urgent.

Responding eagerly, Alex then prized Izzie's wine glass out of her hand and placed it down on the floor next to his, before he gently pushed her back on to their bed.

Callie marched back in to the front room, exhaling dramatically, blowing her hair away from her eyes. She was truly exhausted. She had offered to put the Karev boys to bed, giving Arizona the easier task of putting their daughter, Sofia to bed.

"You know, I'm glad we're having another girl. I'm sure Sofia never had that much energy." Callie said, as she sank down to join her wife on the sofa, picking up her untouched glass of wine from earlier in the evening.

Arizona let out a small laugh, as she replied. "Oh, she probably did, we've just blocked it out. Plus, we've always had Mark on hand too. With this new one, it's just going to be the two of us."

"Yeah, it's sure going to test us." Callie said, as she sipped her wine. Thinking how difficult she had found the lack of time alone with Arizona, when they had first had Sofia and that was just with the one baby and having Mark's help too. Callie was certainly a little anxious about how they were going to cope with the new baby on top of Sofia and their 'full on' careers as surgeons.

"Well, at least it's not twins." Arizona joked gently, as Callie remained straight-faced.

"No regrets?" Arizona then said, smiling a little tentatively at her wife, picking up on Callie's tense vibes.

"No…no regrets," Callie replied reassuringly, smiling back at her wife, as she leaned in and kissed her. "It's not going to be easy, we know that, but it will all be worth it…..But, please lets just enjoy the last few months that it's just the three of us and most importantly we have uninterrupted sleep."

Arizona grinned back. Just as they heard the door creak open and there stood peering over at them, was little, Will Karev. He was in his pyjama's clutching a blue teddy bear and his hair was sticking out in all directions, he looked just like Alex, Arizona thought, as Will said quietly. "Arizona… I'm scared, can I call my Mommy and Daddy?…"

Arizona felt her heart melt a little then, at how cute, timid and vulnerable he looked, as he walked over to her and she picked up the little miniature version of Alex, pulling him on to her lap and wrapping her arms around him, as she said. "I think, your Mommy and Daddy are probably busy at the moment and it's very late, so you must be very tired too. So, why don't I take you back to bed and tuck you in and then when you wake up in the morning they'll be here."

Callie smiled at the sight of her wife, leading the little boy out of the room by the hand and she thought how glad she was that Sofia would be at Mark's the next night and she could have some well deserved time alone with Arizona.

Alex was lying in bed with his wife wrapped up lovingly in his arms. He'd slept with hundreds of women. But with Izzie these intimate moments after they had made love were almost what Alex enjoyed the most, as his fingertips lightly traced a pattern on her skin and he whispered "Iz, I love you so much and it doesn't matter where we are, as long as we have each other."

Izzie nodded, her heart melting, as she looked up at Alex and she felt warm inside, she loved that there was a softer side to her confident, cocky husband that was only ever for her and she felt so safe in his arms. She knew she would have to give things a go back in Seattle for him, as she replied."I love you too and you're right. You can sign the chief's contract, Alex. We'll be just fine back here." Just, as she felt a strong, sharp, stabbing pain in her abdomen. She grimaced as she tried to hide it from Alex, he looked so happy she didn't want to worry him. But she knew something wasn't right and that she would need to get it checked out as soon as possible.

"What is it?" Alex said as Izzie looked up at the ceiling and he sensed something was wrong.

Izzie remained silent as she felt her husbands light touch on the curve of her hip as he continued to caress her affectionately. "Do you think I'm putting on weight?" Izzie then said quietly. She'd always had curves but recently her clothes were starting to feel a little tight and she didn't want to let herself go. She still wanted her husband to desire her just as much as he had when she had been ten years younger.

Alex froze as he looked her in the eye a little taken aback, it wasn't at all like Izzie to come out with something like that. She'd always been so self assured about her body, even when she'd been pregnant. It was one of the reasons she was so attractive to him. If she thought for one moment he'd look else where back in Seattle, she couldn't be more wrong. He only had eyes for her and he still only had to think about her to get turned on. He cast his eyes down to study her figure briefly as he noticed she had put a little weight on, not that it bothered him in the slightest as he replied. "Maybe, but relax you're gorgeous. And I've put a good ten pounds on since marrying you, with all your cooking, and honestly you're still hands down the hottest chick I've ever seen. I love your curves." And he kissed her again, meaning every last word.

"He's finally gone back to sleep." Arizona said, yawning, as half an hour later, she closed the door to the bedroom, the two Karev boys were sleeping in to bump in to Callie on the landing.

"Let's just go to bed. I'm shattered and we've got the appointment with Addison tomorrow to go over my birth plan, remember?" Arizona added sleepily to her wife.

"How could I forget that?" Callie replied, opening the door to their bedroom, wanting nothing more than to curl up with her wife in bed, after their exhausting evening.

Callie, had agreed to looking after the Karev boys, partly because she had seen how stressed out Izzie had been earlier at the hospital when they'd had coffee together, but, mainly because she had thought it would be a good opportunity for her and Arizona to have a trial run at having more than one kid to look after. But now she had to admit, despite what she had said to reassure Arizona, Callie was starting to wonder, just what she and Arizona had actually let themselves in for, having another baby?

...

A/N - Thanks for reviews