Chapter twenty three- April 15th (17 weeks pregnant)
Chapter twenty three plot- After 2 months of dating Jo officially introduces the girls to Alex as her 'boyfriend'. After weeks of debate Alex and Jo settle on the perfect name for their little boy.
"Girls, you need to clean up the playroom. Remember we've got somebody coming over for dinner," Jo says to the girls as she walks by the playroom and sees it was still messy. As she walks by she places her 2nd earring into her ear.
"You look beautiful mummy," Eloise says as she looks over at Jo.
"Oh, why thank you Eloise," Jo replies smiling. Jo continues to head Into the kitchen to check the casserole that was in the slow cooker.
Tonight is the night. Tonight is the night the girls find out that Alex and I are dating. They know that the babies inside me belong to Alex, but they currently have no idea that we're dating. I'm a little bit worried how they'll take it, but I can't put off telling them for any longer because otherwise they're going to suspect that we're hiding something, and that could make things worse. So now seems like the prefect time.
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"Mummy! Mr Alex is here!" Eloise calls out as she peers through the glass window next to the door.
"Let him in and come into the kitchen please," Jo replies as she stirs the casserole.
"Okay," Eloise replies. Eloise opens the door. "Hi Mr Alex. Are you coming to dinner again?" She asks curiously.
"Why yes I am munchkin," Alex replies as he taps Eloise's nose.
"That's the third time this week. Don't you have a home?" Eloise asks concerned.
"Well, I do have a home," Alex replies laughing.
"Mummy wants us to go to the kitchen. I think she's cooking because the house smells yummy," Eloise says seriously.
"Okay then, let's go," Alex replies. Alex sweeps Eloise up and carries her to the kitchen pretending to be a rocket ship.
"Ahhh!" Eloise laughs.
"Well, it looks like you're having fun," Jo laughs as they enter the kitchen.
"I went in a rocket ship!" Eloise exclaims as Alex puts her down.
"Well, it looked like a blast," Jo smiles. "And the rocket ship delivered you just in time because dinner is ready," Jo smiles.
"Yay!" The kids all say before they rush over to the dinner table.
"Wow, that was easy," Alex replies.
"Seriously, I should just bribe my kids with food all the time. My life would be a lot easier," Jo laughs.
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"Mummy, why is Mr Alex having dinner here again? Is he homeless?" Eloise asks.
"Oh no!" Ruby replies.
"No Ellie, Alex isn't homeless," Jo replies.
Oh gosh, The stuff my children think...
"Why is he... He here again?" Ruby stutters.
"Well. You girls know that Alex is my friend, right?" Jo asks.
"Yeah. You guys work at the hospital together," Zara replies.
"Alex is more then my friend now," Jo begins.
"What is he?" Ruby asks.
"Alex is mummy's Boyfriend," Jo smiles. Jo looks over at Alex, who had a big smile on his face. Over the past few weeks that had been talking a bout when the right time would be to introduce Alex to the girls as Jo's boyfriend and tonight seemed like the perfect time.
"Mummy, what's a boyfriend?" Ruby asks.
"Somebody who is a boy and a friend," Eloise says.
Oh Eloise, please stay this sweet and innocent forever.
"It's somebody who mummy loves more then a friend," Jo replies.
"She means they're dating," Zara says with a hit of anger in her voice.
"Are you okay about this Zara?" Jo asks.
Zara is the one I was worried about the most. Yes, she's older but that also means she also understands a lot more then the others do. And the feelings that she is probably going to have are going to be very complicated. Oh gosh, I hope she takes it well.
"But what about daddy? I thought you loved daddy!" Zara screams before bolting from the table and out to the back yard. Jo looks over to Alex with a desperate look on her face.
"Sorry," she says before rushing after her daughter.
"Zara, Zara," Jo says as she sees her daughter sitting on the back deck. Zara doesn't look at Jo, instead she chooses to keep staring straight ahead. Jo sits down next to Zara. Zara rests her head on Jo's shoulder and the pair sit in silence for a few minutes enjoying the hug.
"Look at our tree," Jo says as she points to 'daddy's tree'. Zara looks over at the tree. "Do you remember what we said when we decided to plant Daddy's tree?" Jo asks.
"You said that it would help us remember Dad and to always think about him and to always love him. You said it would make it feel like daddy was always still here," Zara says.
"That's right. And your dad is still here with us Zara even though he died," Jo says.
"But you don't love him anymore. You love Alex," Zara replies.
Oh Zara, hearing you say that just breaks my heart...
"Oh Zara, I still love your dad to the moon and back and I'm not going to forget your dad. He and I were so, so happy together, we had you and your sisters. But Daddy died. And when somebody dies you miss them, your heart aches and you grieve for them. But there comes a point where you need to stop being sorry for yourself and continue living your life and be happy. And your daddy would want all of us to be happy again. And when somebody dies your heart will always hurt and you will always miss them but it comes to a point where it's bearable and you can live with it. Goodness knows it took me long enough, Jo says. "Mummy was said for a very long time after Dad died. But Alex makes me happy, very, very happy. And I want to be happy," Jo replies.
Zara looks up at Jo, "I miss him so much," Zara replies.
"I know you do. I still miss him. But there is room in your heart for it to love lots of people. And Dad will always have a spot in my heart," Jo replies.
"Is Alex going to replace my dad?" Zara asks.
"No I'm not," Alex says as he walks out. He sits down next to Zara
Was he listening this whole time?
"I would never ever try and replace your dad. Your dad will always be your dad. But I want to be here for you, I want to help you grow, I want to have fun together and I love you too. I will do things that your dad used to do, like mow the lawn and help you with your homework? But I will never ever replace your dad," Alex says sternly to Zara.
"Promise?" Zara asks.
"I pinkie promise," Alex says seriously. He and Zara shake pinkies. "Now, why don't you tell me some stories about your dad," Alex suggests.
"He used to sneak me chocolate biscuits after I had my desert," Zara says.
"He didn't do a very good job though because I always saw him. I looked the other way though," Jo laughs.
"And then mummy would come into my room and see al the crumbs and ask what they were from," Zara says.
"And dad would say that they were magic," Jo laughs.
"And there was that time when Daddy built a Billy cart and he went to drive it and the wheel fell of and he ran into a tree," Zara laughs.
"Oh gosh, how could I forget that one. I think we've got some pictures. Hold on," Jo laughs as she goes to get the picture.
What a beautiful moment. Moments like these are why I live. I live to see my children happy and I love that Alex is helping to make her happy. I am so incredibly blessed.
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They're all watching a movie," Alex says as he walks into the kitchen to help Jo with the dishes.
"Thank you," Jo smiles.
"For the movie? It really wasn't a problem. Your girls all love Disney princess'," Alex replies.
"Not for that. But just, thank you," Jo smiles.
"Okay, For what?" He asks.
"For what you said to Zara. Words can't describe how good that was for her to hear. So just thank you," Jo smiles as she pulls Alex in for a romantic kiss.
"I'm glad that it helped," he replies.
"I know that finding the perfect name for our little girl was easy, but we've struggled to find the prefect name for our little boy. But I think I've got the perfect one," Alex says.
"Oh yeah, what's that?" Jo asks inquisitively.
"Zachary David Karev- Maidenway," Alex smiles. Jo gasps as she hears the name.
It's prefect. Everything about the name is just perfect.
"I love it," Jo smiles.
"So we have Zachary David and Sabrina Madelyn," Alex grins.
"We have our names," Jo smiles
"They're fantastic," Alex replies.
"I want you to meet him," Jo blurts out.
"Do you mean go to his grave?" Alex asks.
"Yeah. And it'll be good for me too. You know, I haven't been back since his funeral. I couldn't bring myself to do it and I was too emotional to go on his one year anniversary. And I don't know when, but, we need to go," Jo replies.
"I think that's a wonderful idea. I'd love to meet him," Alex replies.