AN: So this is the end of the story. If you're reading this far I'd love to know what you thought of the story. I hope you have enjoyed it and are not disappointed by how the end has come about. But if you are that is ok also.
Epilogue
Three years later
Izzie sat down on the floor and reached for the box in front of her. She pulled it towards her and began pulling at the sticky tape, she'd sealed the box up days ago but now it was the only thing left and she just had to look at it again. Inside were all her photo albums, the ones from when she was in college, her wedding album, and the hundreds of photos she'd taken of her daughter, and Alex. She pulled out the first album, her daughters and opened it. The first images were of ultrasounds, she'd had a lot of ultrasounds during her pregnancy and Alex had kept every single one of them. He'd said it was because he wanted to capture everything, he wanted to have it all there for their little girl to see one day. The thought of Alex putting away the images made her smile and as she blinked she realized she was tearing up.
She sighed and turned the pages, until she reached the first photograph, it was a picture of her sitting up in a hospital bed, Alex was beside her, he had his arms wrapped around her body and was helping her to cradle Bella. The moment the image captured was the first time she'd held her little girl, they were both smiling at the camera and there was a glow in both their eyes. She could still remember that moment, that moment marked the first clear memory she had from after the accident. She reached down and ran her fingers over the photo, she blinked her eyes and she felt tears run down her face. She couldn't look at the photos without crying, seeing the images always overwhelmed her with emotion, they symbolized so much.
Not a day went by that she wasn't grateful for having both of them; that she didn't think about how close she came to losing it all. She could still remember things from the world where Alex wasn't, sometimes the memories from there would come at her so fast she would scare herself into thinking they were real, or she would start talking about something and the person she was with, usually Meredith would turn to her and say 'Iz that never happened'. It was a strange unnerving feeling when that would happen, because those things did happen, the memories were real to her, it made it hard to move on, to move past what had happened.
That was one of the reasons they were moving, why they'd sold their dream home and were moving to New York. She didn't want to be the woman who almost died anymore; she didn't want that event and the struggle she had gone through to recover to be how other people defined her. She was tired of people looking at her and going wow, she just wanted to live her life which was hard to do in Seattle. Everyone in Seattle knew who she was; who her family was, that was one of the reasons they were moving, but really the opportunities on offer to them were just too good to turn away. Alex had a fellowship lined up with the country's leading craniofacial surgeon and she had a part-time fellowship in general surgery. She'd never gone back to working fulltime, she still had a few problems with fatigue and she couldn't bear being apart from her daughter for too long. She lived for her daughter, when she'd been sick it was Alex she'd longed for but it was her daughter who pulled her through. She smiled at the thought of her little girl, her Bella and Alex, they'd left the house an hour ago to fix some last minute things with HR at the hospital, she was supposed to meet them there. She let out a sigh and glanced down at her watch, it was getting late, she needed to get going.
She slipped the album back into the box and replaced the sticky tape. She took a deep breath and looked around the now empty house. She still couldn't believe she was really leaving Seattle, that she was about to start her life all over again, that she was going to get a fresh slate.
"Is that the last box?" She looked up and saw Meredith walking into the room carrying two glasses of lemonade.
"Yep," She smiled taking the glass from her friend. "Did those kids finally convince you to buy some?"
"Yeah, there are only so many times you can say no to a five year old."
The two women laughed and then looked around the completely empty house. "I still can't believe you're really going."
"Me either." Izzie sighed. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing?" She knew it was the right thing, she knew it was what she had to do but she needed to hear someone else say it.
"The fresh start will do you good." Meredith offered. And Izzie smiled. Meredith was always good at reassuring her, of telling her what she needed to hear. She was the one to suggest in the first place they apply for the New York fellowships, that perhaps a new city was what they really needed to move on with their lives, to put the accident behind them.
"I hope so." Izzie sighed; she sucked down the rest of the drink and handed the empty glass to Meredith. She bent down and picked up the box. "If I want to make it there by Sunday afternoon I should probably get going."
"Probably." They walked out the house together and joined the others on the front lawn. George and Derek had just finished repacking the boot of Izzie's car. The number of boxes she'd left out of the truck had kept multiplying and they'd worried they wouldn't all fit. They both looked up in horror as they saw her with another box.
"I thought you said this was everything?" Derek said waving to the precision packed boot.
"It is." Izzie smiled. "Don't worry this one can ride up the front with me."
She opened the door and placed the final box on the front seat next to where she'd be sitting. Then she looked into the back seat to check that Bella's toys were all there. It was a movement to delay the inevitable, the good bye which everyone knew was about to happen. She climbed out the car and turned to face her friends.
"I guess it's time." She said taking a reluctant step forward. She walked to Meredith first and wrapped her arms tightly around her. "Thank you so much for everything." She spoke into her shoulder. "I don't know where I would be if it wasn't for you."
"It's no problem." Meredith whispered back and she pulled her closer. "I'm going to miss you." She told her. "You have to promise me you'll take care of yourself and phone."
"I promise." Izzie whispered back and she let go.
She moved onto the next person, Derek. They weren't exactly friends but they'd grown closer over the years. He helped save her family's life, something like that wasn't easily forgotten but he'd also turned out to be a great babysitter. When they needed a night or an afternoon alone Alex could always talk Meredith into taking Bella if Derek was going to be home.
"I'm going to hold you to that promise Stevens." He said and he held out his hand. She went to shake it but he pulled her in for a hug. As her arms wrapped around his shoulder he whispered into her ear. "If it doesn't work out over there I can pull some strings for you to come back."
His gesture made her smile, she was sure it would work out. They would make it work out but it was nice to know the door was still open. "I'll keep that in mind." She smiled before letting go and moving on to Cristina.
Affection and Cristina didn't go well together. In the years they'd known each other she could almost count on one hand the number of times she'd seen her offer or willingly accept affection from another person. But here they stood and Cristina stepped forward and hugged her.
"Don't let those New York doctors push you around." She said before laughing. "What am I talking about? When have you let anyone push you around? "
"Thanks." She smiled, letting out a half laughing. She pulled her tight for one last embrace before letting go and moving on to the last person, George.
She'd left George to last on purpose; he needed to get the last goodbye because he was the only one who didn't want her to leave. "Stop crying." She told him as he wiped his eyes.
"I'm not crying," He wiped them again and tried to smile. "It's your stupid lawn. I'm allergic to it."
"Whatever." She stepped forward and hugged him "I'll only be a phone call away."
He held her there for a moment; she could feel him trying not to cry. "I'm going to miss you." He whispered.
"I know," She pulled him tighter; "I'm going to miss you too." She held him close and closed her eyes; she could feel herself beginning to cry again. She didn't want to cry, this was hard enough without the crying. "This isn't good bye." She began, swallowing her tears. "We'll keep in touch." She gave him one last squeeze and let go. She climbed into the car and rolled down the window. "I'll phone when I reach the motel tonight." She said and she drove off.
She began to navigate her car along the road, and she let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. She hated good byes, but now it was over she began to smile. She knew she was doing the right thing, she knew she was doing what she had to do, what her family had to do.
By the time she reached the hospital her eyes were dry and an excitement was building up inside of her. She pulled her car into the parking lot and scanned the area for Alex and Bella. She spotted them by the main entrance Alex was holding Bella's hand as she tried to balance along the garden wall, she kept losing her balance every few steps and he would grab hold of her to stop her falling. Izzie sat in the car and watched them; she liked watching them play when they didn't know she was there, when it was just the two of them in their own little world. Alex was a great father; anyone who would watch them together could see that.
She stayed where she was until they saw her, until she heard Bella yell. "Mommy's here!" and she watched her little girl jump off the wall and into her daddy's arms. The pair began walking towards her and she stepped out the car, she waited for them and when they were a few feet away Alex placed Bella on the grown and the little girl ran the last few steps toward her.
"Mommy," She cried, and Izzie bent down to greet her.
"Did you have fun with Daddy?" She asked giving her girl a cuddle.
"Yep!" A big smile spread across her face and her eyes lit up. "Daddy let me press the buttons in the elevator, and then he gave me rides on a spinney chair."
"Really?" Her daughter's excitement rubbed off on her own reply. "Sound like you had a great time."
"Yep," The little girl smiled again and then she put on her serious face. "Daddy says we have to go for a long car ride now. I don't like long car rides."
"I know sweetie," She ran her hand through her daughter's hair and kissed the top of her head. "I know you don't like it but just think of it as a big adventure. We're going to spend the night in a motel and if you're a good girl I might let you jump on the bed."
"Really?" Her girl looked up at her with sparkling brown eyes which mirrored her own.
"Only if you're good." She kissed the top of her head and started to stand up. "Lets get you in the car."
She opened the door and helped her climb into her car seat and fasten the seat belt. She handed her a coloring book and some crayons and when she was sure she was comfortable she turned her attention to Alex.
He was standing by the front of the car watching her and Bella, he had this goofy grin on his face and when she reached him he smiled.
"Jump on the bed?"
"Yeah," She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gave him a little kiss. "It's not our mattress she'll be bouncing on."
"True," He laughed a little and kissed her back. "We should get going; we've got a long drive a head of us."
They climbed into the car, this time with Alex driving and they hit the road. They navigated through the streets of the city and onto the highway, when they reached the open road; a long stretch which was straight Izzie reached over and placed her hand on Alex's leg. It was a movement she did with caution, in the back of her mind she was thinking she didn't want to cause another accident but she wanted to feel him when she said what she was about to say.
"So Alex," she began. "I've been thinking and this new house has four bedrooms. I think it is time we started trying to fill another one."
"Fill one?" Alex didn't take his eyes off the road but he reached down and touched her hand. "Fill one with what?"
She smiled he knew exactly what she was talking about but she'd play along. "A baby." She whispered and she ran her fingers in a small circle along his leg. "I think Bella would like a little Ally to play with."
"Ally?" She could almost hear the chuckle in his voice.
"Yes, you said I could name the next one, we're going to have a little Ally." She said the name with pride, she'd thought a lot about it and that was what she wanted.
"What makes you think it's going to be a girl?" The amused tone was still in Alex's voice.
"Just a feeling." She lent over and carefully kissed his cheek, then she sat back in her seat and adjusted the radio.
"Okay," Alex said after a few minutes, "How about when we get there we christen every room. See if we can make our little Ally in one night."
They both quietly chuckled to themselves, and then from the back seat they heard. "Mommy what's an Ally?"
They both chuckled a little harder and Izzie turned around. "I'll tell you what an Ally is when we have one."