Author's Note: One of the biggest fears a writer has is losing their readers. I know a great deal of you have lost interest because of how long it takes between updates. I wish I could promise that updates will come quicker but I don't believe in lying. There are several reasons why updates take as long as they do. In the past month I have had dealt with a great deal of loss. A friend lost their battle with cancer. Another friend's child died suddenly. And yet another friend lost their father. It made me not only said on their behalves, but made me realize how precious my time with my family is. For those of you who do not know, I have a husband and two children. They are my world. I could rush updates but I feel a responsibility to you, my readers, to provide quality updates. Please stay with me. I promise the waits will be worth it. In fact, in this chapter the seed of thinking of Izzie as something more than the woman having his child is planted in Alex's mind.

Chapter Four

How To: Be Honest With Yourself

Family is everything. Ellis Robbins Karev Grey had been raised on that mantra and had instilled it in all four of her children (five if she counted the niece she had raised.) Most of the time her second to eldest, Alex Karev, had no problem living by the family motto. As the only boy with three younger sisters and a cousin, to look out for he had learned at an early age what responsibility was. He could only think of three times he resented being raised to believe family was everything. The first had been when his mom made him dress up as Barney for his youngest sister Lexie's fourth birthday. The second had been when his cousin Cristina was dumped by some douche bag named Preston and he'd been forced to escort her to her junior prom. The third, and latest, was when his twin sister Arizona talked him into donating his sperm so her wife could have a baby.

He had known something would go wrong. Things like that never turned out well. He had figured on the something wrong being the kid resenting them, not some nurse switching specimens to get back at his sister in law Callie. That was how it happened though. Erica Hahn had seen the opportunity to stick it to Callie for dumping her for Arizona and she had taken it. It hadn't mattered that she wasn't just messing with Callie and Arizona's life. It hadn't mattered that Alex, George O'Malley and Izzie Stevens had had their worlds turned upside down too. Nope, all Erica Hahn had cared about was hurting Callie and Arizona as much as they had hurt her.

"Stop thinking about it," he muttered as he stepped out of his shower and reached for the thick, navy blue towel that was waiting on the nearby vanity. It was a constant struggle not to think about the havoc Erica Hahn had wreaked on his life. Fatherhood was not something he had wanted…ever. Yet it had been thrust upon him and because of that damn family is everything value his mother had drilled into him he couldn't walk away from the baby Izzie was pregnant with. A part of him wish she had terminated the pregnancy. It would have made things easier. At least for him. Probably for her too since she'd lost her job because of the baby. It was only a small, selfish part of him that thought that though. Most of him clung to the family is everything mantra. And, for better or worse, Izzie and that baby were now a part of his family. He just hoped he didn't fail in the father department.

"You decent?" Arizona's muffled voice pierced through his thoughts. He thought about asking why she was bothering to ask when she never waited for him to answer. Right on cue, she barged through the bathroom door, her blonde curls bouncing around her shoulders. There was a gleam in her sky blue eyes that made him nervous. Arizona seldom butted into his life but when she did she did it whole heartedly and in a big way. The saying "go big or go home" fit his twin sister to a tee. "You should buy a shirt that color," she pointed toward the towel knotted around his waist. "It's a good color for you."

Shaking his head, Alex brushed pass her and padded into the adjoining bedroom. "Better make it quick because I don't plan on wearing this towel all day."

"Drop it. See if I care. We shared a womb, remember? With the exception of that tattoo on your arm you're not sporting anything now you weren't sporting back then." The amusement in her voice should have been annoying. It wasn't. It brought a slight smirk to his full lips as reached for the jeans and t shirt he had laid on the bed before his shower. They were too old to dress and undress in front of one another but comfortable enough for him to dress in the closet while she stated whatever business had brought her over. "We need to talk about how you're going to handle the whole situation with Izzie at work. Callie and I have it covered as far as George is concerned."

"Oh yeah? What are you telling people? That he's such a good friend he loaned you his sperm?" The irony of his statement wasn't lost on him. George had been a good enough friend to loan someone his sperm: Izzie. Alex had to admit it took a pretty great friend to do something like that. It had taken his mother, all four of his sisters, and his cousin reminding him that family was everything before he would commit to helping Callie and Arizona have a child. From what little Alex knew George hadn't thought twice about helping his friend out. George, no doubt, would make a great father.

"Something like that." Arizona admitted. Mixing a bit of the truth with the lie was smart. It meant fewer people would question the parentage of the child. It would be nice if things were that simple with Izzie, he mused. For the most part few people knew the truth of Izzie's pregnancy. She had deleted her melt down vlog, kept her comments during newer vlogs vague, and avoided direct answers when people asked her about the father. "So? How are you going to handle the whole baby thing at work? George says some of their friends think she got knocked up from a one night stand and is too embarrassed to say so or that the father is a married man."

Handling things at the hospital would be tricky. Everyone knew he wasn't involved in a relationship. That left a one night stand. The thought of people thinking Izzie had gotten pregnant because of a one night stand left a sour taste in his mouth. What choice did they have though? Unsavory or not, it was pretty much their only option. Outside telling people the truth of course. And he really didn't want that stigma hanging over the babies heads because one day they wouldn't be babies. Nobody should have to know they were created on accident. If he had his way his child and his niece or nephew would never know how they were conceived. They would just know they were loved. And, he could admit, that a small part of him already loved the baby. "One night stand," he muttered as he exited the closet.

Arizona nodded, her blue eyes a little sad. "I hate to say it but that might be your best option. Kinda hate that it has to be that way but…" her slender shoulders raised and then fell as she sank on to the edge of the bed. "People will believe it at least." She plucked at the black and cream patterned comforter, her chin tucked against her chest. Something was on her mind. Something other than what he was going to tell his coworkers. "I think you should think about settling down." Her voice was quiet yet the words seemed to echo throughout his spacious bedroom. "We're thirty-two Alex. Time to be adults. I know you think you are but lets face it, you're doing all the playing now that you should have been doing when we were kids. I worry about you. That you're going to miss out on something great because you're too busy goofing around. Or worse you're going to miss out on Miss Right because you're screwing around with some skank."

If it had been one of his other sisters or even his mother, Alex would have blown the concern off. Arizona wasn't just his sister though. She was his best friend. His other half. She knew him; sometimes better than he knew himself. Her concern wasn't an attempt to be nosy or to push him into a relationship. It was real. So real he felt it pricking at his heart the way it must have been pricking at her's. Their connection was a little freaky at times. He could remember once, in the tenth grade, when he had broken his wrist playing football. Arizona had felt it and known he was hurt long before anyone told her. "I know you think I look at life as one big party but I don't. I work. A lot. And its stressful. You know that. I spend so much time being serious at work that when I'm off I just…I don't know…want to cut loose. Have fun. Forget that I'm responsible for whether someone lives or dies."

"I get that. I do. When I'm home the last thing I want to do is think about or talk medicine. The thing is, we're doctors. We made that choice. Is it stressful at times? Oh yeah. But for every stressful moment there is one that reminds me why I became a doctor. You can't tell me it isn't like that for you too." A lock of high lighted hair fell across one eye as she stared at him. The concern was still there. Maybe even more so. "This isn't about work though. This is about you settling down. You're about to become a father. You might not have asked for it but there it is. Izzie gave you the chance to bow out gracefully with no hard feelings. You chose to stay in the game. That means you have to be a team player. You have to start acting like and thinking like a dad."

A whoosh of air crossed his lips as he let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. They were talking about fatherhood. Okay. He could do that. He could talk about settling into the role of being a good dad. Most likely he would see the kid every other weekend. He could be the perfect weekend father. No problem. "I'm not going to drag the kid to a bar, Arizona." It was a bad joke. One that was either lost on her or didn't amuse her. He was figuring on the latter rather than the former. "I can be a good dad and still enjoy life."

"Really? Like our dad? Or what about Thatcher? Cause from what I can remember when they were having good times they were not so great in the father department."

A flood of memories assaulted him. There was no disputing what she was saying. Michael Karev had left his wife and two year old twins because they did not fit in with his good time lifestyle. His step-father, Thatcher Grey, had been pretty much the same way. He was a great guy…when he wasn't drinking or cheating. A lump formed in Alex's throat. He wouldn't be like that. He wouldn't expose his child to that lifestyle. He wouldn't choose a weekend in Vegas over his kid's birthday party. Nor would he show up to his daughter's wedding so drunk he couldn't stand upright long enough to walk her down the aisle. "What do you want me to do? Live like a monk?"

"No. I want you to settle down." They weren't just talking about fatherhood. They were talking about him and…who? A flash of a tall, curvy blonde with big brown eyes flashed before him. Izzie? No. Arizona wasn't talking about Izzie. Was she? Alex shifted from one foot to the other while he waited for his sister to clarify what she meant by settling down. If she suggested Izzie he couldn't say he was entirely opposed. If a guy had to think about screwing only one woman the rest of his life why not pick one that looked like a porn star? "I want you to seriously think about getting to know Izzie. Not just as a baby mama but as a woman."

Thinking about Izzie as a woman wasn't a problem. He had a pretty clear image in his head of her long, slender legs and her high, round breasts. When he was feeling brave, he could see those legs wrapped around his waist and those breasts filling his hands. He tried to keep thoughts of Izzie mostly rated PG. The woman was having his baby for crying out loud. She was going to be a mother, not some friend with benefits. "What do you want me to do? Ask her out?"

"Actually, I was thinking you could join us for a nice little family dinner." A calculating smile tipped the corners of Arizona's lips as she stared up at him. "Nothing fancy. Just family."

Just family. Ha. That was like saying Hitler had just been a soldier. Family dinner meant his mother, Arizona, Callie, his two younger half sisters Meredith and Lexie, and, if he was unlucky, his cousin Cristina. Family dinner meant nosy questions, snide comments, and really bad food. The women in his family made great career women but horrid cooks. "Take out and no Cristina." He could handle everyone else, but his cousin Cristina Yang was a bitch and proud of it. He had seen her psychologically neuter men in the courtroom and had experienced it a few times at family get togethers.

"Izzie is cooking and sorry, we have to include Cristina. She's family. Practically a sister."

If Izzie was cooking that meant the dinner had already been established. Great. Just great. Even if he wanted to find a way not to go, now he couldn't. If he didn't show Izzie would think he wasn't serious about all the promises he had made where the baby was concerned. "You really expect me to get to know Izzie better with the interruption triplets around?" For as long as he could remember either Meredith, Lexie, or Cristina had been interrupting. Conversations. Kisses. Break ups. You name it, they had interrupted it. He could see the writing on the wall already. One of them would butt in and screw things up. It was inevitable. Interrupting was engrained in them, as much a part of them as their arms and legs.

"You have a point but what am I suppose to do? Call them all up and say sorry, you're no longer invited to dinner? I would look like an idiot. Besides, Izzie has to get use to them." And that was that. End of discussion. Arizona pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and retreated as quickly as she had arrived. No asking if he was alright with coming to dinner with the whole family, Izzie, and George present. No letting him know what time to show up or what they would be eating. Nope just a lecture on how he needed to settle down, some not so subtle hints about Izzie being a great choice, and an order to show up for dinner. Welcome to his life. A life where family is everything.