A/N sorry I've been MIA for so long I'm sorta in trouble at school for being truant because I'm sick a lot...which sucks so most of my last few months have been dedicated to school work! Anyways only a week left till new Greys!
It was weird for Alex to say it aloud to anyone even if it was only Zola. He had been thinking about if he really was ready to adopt a baby for awhile now ever since Robbins had said she had to be placed in foster care. He also knew that he had to take classes and have a support system behind him, he knew if he asked everyone would jump on board with him but he wasn't sure he wanted to let everyone know just yet. At least until he sat down with an adoption worker and had everything ready to go. "Okay Zola we can go home now if you're ready to leave the babies."He said walking across the room to where the toddler sat looking at Brooklynn the only baby in the NICU who had a wall of her incubator open. They had practically spent the whole day in the NICU only leaving for rounds and to eat lunch and dinner. Zola shook her head no but didn't say anything. Since Alex had told her she had to be quiet she hardly said anything when she was in the NICU she just sat and stared at all the sick babies. "You know when you were a baby you lived in Africa and you were sick and no one in Africa could help save you so I brought you over here to get treatment and guess what...?" He asked her pulling a chair next to hers as she looked up at him. She didn't say anything she just tilted her head to the side as if she was trying to tell him to keep talking. "Well when you came over here you needed surgery to fix your noggin." He said as he poked her in the side. "Your daddy was the one who operated on you and when he went to check on you after surgery you were crying but when he picked you up you stopped. You had been crying for awhile and no one knew how to get you to stop but you dad just walked right in and picked you up and you stopped. That's when I knew you and him had something special kid!" He said remembering the day he told Derek that she liked him more than anybody else in the hospital. "So then your dad told your mom he wanted to be your dad and then your mom agreed. They had some ups and downs trying to become your parents but in the end I told the judge they were the best parents you could have so they became your parents. That's how you went from being just Zola Limbani to being Zola Christina Grey-Shepard!" He omitted somethings he thought her parents could tell her when she got older. "So I guess what I'm trying to say is that when you were just a baby you were in this same hospital being treated and now look at you! We've come full circle!" He told her as she climbed onto his lap and gave him a hug. "Go hommme" she said quietly.
When they got home Zola was already asleep in her car seat it was only ten o'clock but she had spent the whole day in the hospital and when he asked if she wanted a nap she always said no. He knew he should have made her take at least an hour nap but she seemed fine and he knew they would have to be up early so he let her just crash when she was ready. When he finally got her into the house without waking her he carried her into the spare bedroom and laid her down in the portable crib that had been in the house longer than he had been. She was getting bigger and he knew he would have to buy her something more permanent soon. She didn't stay over a lot but if he adopted Rosie he was sure that Zola would stay over more. He went downstairs and made a note to remind him to measure Zola on her side of the doorway in the morning before they left. Even though she didn't live at the house anymore he felt like he should still mark her height, this was the fist time since they moved that he would do it. When he finished some little things around the house he grabbed his laptop and started looking up the process of adoption. After two hours he shutdown his laptop and headed up the stairs turning lights off as he went. He checked on Zola who was snoring lightly and went to bed.
When Alex got up at seven he checked on Zola who was still asleep and decided to make some eggs for breakfast before he woke her up. When he had put her plate on the table he went upstairs and into the spare bedroom which had become Zola's bedroom since she was the only one who ever slept in there. "Zola it's time to wake up." He said walking over to the portable crib and putting his hand on her back. " I made you cheesy eggs and chocolate milk!" With the magic words of chocolate milk and the promise of going to the park tomorrow he got her to wake up fairly easy. He carried her downstairs and sat her down at the table going to get a cup of coffee that had been on the counter while he went upstairs. "Okay Zola I have to go get ready to leave when I'm done we can get you ready to go see the babies." He said walking over to her and handing her the iPad that accompanied her wherever she went. " I'll be back down in a little bit Squirt." He told her walking out of the kitchen and into the laundry room to get ready for the day.
When they got to the hospital he took her up to the NICU for a few minutes before he had rounds and before he dropped her off at the daycare center. "Okay Zola we can only stay for a little but because then you have to go to daycare and play with all the other kids while I do doctor stuff." He hated to send her downstairs while he had her for the weekend but he had a surgery scheduled for nine o'clock and it was already pushing eight which is when he had rounds, he planned on only leaving her in daycare for a few hours then when his surgery was over he thought he'd take a few hours off and go see the new princess pony whatever movie that Derek kept saying she wanted to see. "Alrighty Zola we have to go now so I can be on time and you get to go play with Sophia! That's gonna be fun!" He said picking her up and walking down the hall to get on the elevator.