AN: PART 2 IS FINALLY HERE! I THINK YOU ALL WILL ENJOY A FAMILIAR FACE IN THIS CHAPTER, THIS CHAPTER FOCUSES ON ALEX AND IZZIE. REVIEWS ARE WELCOME, ENJOY!
Chapter 6: This Changes Everything Part 2
4:00 AM
SCENE: IZZIES HOUSE
(Alex is inside his car in the driveway taking a deep breath before getting out of the car. He goes to the front door and rings the doorbell, anxiously waiting)
Alex: (Practices) Okay I know this is sudden but I have thought this through and…no not that, look if you could just see this from-
(Alex stops his speech as the door opens revealing Izzie Stevens on the other side in her robe and pajamas)
Izzie: (Yawns) Alex? Am I dreaming? Is this a dream of mine?
Alex: No, you're not dreaming this is real, this is very real for the both of us. I'm sorry did I wake you?
Izzie: (Grumpy) Yes you did I was in the middle of the greatest sleep I had in years until you came knocking at my door. What are you doing here? The twins aren't here they're at a sleepover with the Harris's down the street.
Alex: (Worried) You let them go to a sleepover in the middle of a pandemic?
Izzie: I've known the family for a few years now. I took everybody's temp and they don't have any symptoms. The kids have been cooped up in here for a month and I wanted them to have at least one normal childhood experience while the world is ending.
Alex: Plus, you wanted to have one cozy night without a couple of six-year old's bothering you every five minutes.
Izzie: Yeah, that's an added bonus too, what are you doing here?
Alex: Um…I wanted to talk to you and I feel like it's too important to do it over the phone so I decided to come here. Can I come in? I'll brew the coffee.
Izzie: As long as you brew the coffee, come on in.
(Alex comes in and heads to the kitchen to the coffee maker)
Alex: How come you are the only adult to not have a Keurig? I swear it's like you want to be late for work not that I blame you with covid and all.
Izzie: (Scoffs) Okay did you know that Keurig pods are impossible to recycle? Yeah, they just sit in a landfill for years polluting our very fragile planet. Plus, the brew is weak and I like my caffeine strong for a good day at work. Do you need help remembering how a coffee pot works?
Alex: (Puts the coffee grounds in) No I got it thanks.
Izzie: Okay…so what did you want to talk about? (Scared) Is it Meredith? Is she dying?
Alex: No, she's not dying. She still has covid and her pulse ox is at 83 but she's stableish so far. Webber and Altman got her in a new drug protocol so hopefully we see positive results. It kills me that I can't be there to help her through this, you know.
Izzie: (Sympathetic) I know but next to you and Cristina, Webber is the best person to take care of Mer. I've been praying for her every day and every night; I even called my pastor to get him to pray for her.
Alex: You're going to church again?
Izzie: (Groans) I need some light in my life and church has brought a little bit back. It's online now but still it helps. I would recommend it to you but you hardly seem like the churchy type.
Alex: Good call.
Izzie: So, uh what did you want to talk to me about?
Alex: (Brews the coffee) Um…Jo is pregnant.
Izzie: (Surprised) What? Jo is pregnant? With your baby?
Alex: Yes, she is pregnant with our baby that was untimely conceived a week before the pandemic which says a lot about our luck. She just told me last night, she said she's seven weeks and is keeping it.
Izzie: (Grins) Well I'm happy for you really happy. I know it's not how you imagined you would start a family but-
Alex: (Chuckles darkly) Yeah, I don't think the universe agrees with my version of starting a family. It was made clear when I found out I had twins with my ex-wife unknowingly and then my current wife got pregnant while the world was ending. What do you think that says about me?
Izzie: (Shrugs) That normal was never in the cards for you?
Alex: (Pours them both coffee) That must be it.
Izzie: …So Jo is pregnant that's great but why did you feel the need to come all the way down here just to tell me that?
Alex: I didn't come here just to tell you I came here to tell you that I'm gonna leave soon and drive back to Seattle. I have to Izzie with the baby coming and Mer in the hospital and Grey Sloan handling a pandemic I need to go back as soon as possible.
Izzie: Okay well I always knew that you would and I support that.
Alex: …That's not all though…I've been going back and forth with this because I was afraid of what your reaction would be and…I was afraid of you keeping me from the kids again.
Izzie: Alex I wouldn't do that to you not after you got to know them. I wouldn't do that to you or them.
Alex: I know that I know that you care about the twins just like me. I know that you would do what's best for them no matter what. I know that now and that's why I'm not afraid to ask this anymore. Jo telling me that she is pregnant was the kick in the ass I needed to come down here and sit down with you face to face and ask what I need to ask.
Izzie: (Worried but continues) Okay so ask it.
Alex: (Exhales) I'm headed back to Seattle and…I want you to move back to Seattle with the kids.
(Izzie looks at Alex in shock)
CUT TO BLACK
5:00 AM
(Izzie picks up the toys in the hallway upstairs with Alex helping. Alex looks at her uneasily as she continues to clean)
Alex: Iz? Are you okay?
Izzie: (Normal tone) Yeah why wouldn't I be?
Alex: Because it's been an hour and you haven't said anything. You went straight into cleaning mode which can only mean your panicking internally.
Izzie: Or it could just mean I want to bring the house in order before our kids inevitably tear it apart. Have you considered that?
Alex: I would if I didn't ask you to move back to Seattle with the kids before you did.
Izzie: (Sighs) Alex, I don't want to get into this not now.
Alex: I think now is the right time to get into this, we're alone, the kids aren't here and there are no neighbors to hear us in case this turns into a screaming match.
(Izzie stops picking up the toys and looks at Alex)
Izzie: Did you pick now to come here because you knew the twins wouldn't be here?
Alex: No, it was just a lucky coincidence, but that's not the point. The point is I asked you to be closer to Seattle so that I can be in the kids' lives more.
Izzie: Okay Alex I know that covid is maddening, it's something that is unexpected and messy but it's not forever. I mean we have been through pandemics before and they ended at some point. This will end too and we don't have to uproot our lives unnecessarily.
Alex: It is necessary and not just because of the pandemic but because I want my kids to grow up together. Finding out that Jo is pregnant has made me realize that this is what I want. I want my kids to be in the same place where I can raise them where they can grow up together. Pandemic or not I want that for our family, don't you?
Izzie: Of course, I do it's just that what you are asking from me, from us is…big. It's a big adjustment for the twins to move from one place to another. This is their home Alex did you consider that? Did you consider what you would be asking of them? Did you consider if they would be happy to move away from their home?
Alex: Of course, I did and you know I've been taking care of kids long before I found out I had them with you. I know that kids are more resilient and adaptable than adults. I know that it's a big thing of me to ask but I also know that…they'll be okay. It's going to be an adjustment for them but eventually they will adjust and settle. Alexis and Eli are six Izzie, that's not too old to accept new surroundings.
Izzie: You really think two kids from the country who play with animals all day will happily trade that for city smog and small yards?
Alex: (Shrugs) I can get them a dog. I know it's a lot to ask of them but I also know that they will be overjoyed with having another sibling on the way and their aunt Amber living so close, you know how much they love her.
Izzie: (Groans) Yeah don't remind me.
Alex: Even so you know that they will adjust because they have a family to help them do that. I mean we're in a pandemic so I think we have enough time to be with them and help them with the homesickness and thriving pains they will have. You know me Iz, you know I wouldn't consider asking you this without considering what will happen after. I have thought this through you know that I have and…I am just asking you to think about doing this for our family, please.
Izzie: (Sighs and leans back against the wall) Alex…I want our kids to know you, I want them to know their siblings too.
Alex: (Exhales in relief) Okay great then-
Izzie: But…But I don't want to move back to Seattle.
(Alex looks at Izzie in shock over her statement)
CUT TO BLACK
6:00 AM
SCENE: LIVING ROOM
(Alex sits across from Izzie handing her another cup of coffee. He sips his coffee in thought before asking)
Alex: What do you mean you don't want to move back to Seattle?
Izzie: (Sighs) I mean…I don't want to go back there. Alex, I know that you have good intentions here and I love you for that but the fact is I don't want what you want. I have a good life here, a good job-
Alex: And you can have that in Seattle. I'll talk to Bailey and see if there's positions in the oncology floor. I mean your guaranteed to find a job in a hospital during a pandemic you know that. We'll figure out the details as we go along with this.
Izzie: Okay look I know that Grey Sloan is home for you and I miss it sometimes I do, but for me, Seattle is a dead fiancé, dead best friend, and barely surviving cancer with a bunch of other painful memories. I mean I actually had to move across the country to get away from all the suffering.
Alex: I hear you I do but that was the past Iz, you can't let it keep you from moving forward and looking towards the future.
Izzie: The future you envision for me has your uncomfortable wife and your sister who hates me. I don't want to be a part of that Alex; I don't want to sacrifice what I have built here just because you want me to.
Alex: I hate to break it to you but you became a part of that life the second you told me about the twins and let me be a part of their lives. You didn't have to tell me but you did and now there's no going back. There's nothing to stop me from doing what I think is best for this family.
Izzie: Alex that's not-
Alex: And for the record this isn't about what I want for you it's about what I want for my kids all of them. I don't want my kids to have to travel back and forth from two places for the rest of their lives. I don't want my kids to grow up a thousand miles away from each other. I want to raise my kids in the same place. I want the twins to get to grow up with their little brother or sister. I want them to have the kind of normal childhood me, Aaron and Amber never got to have. I want them to be family.
(Izzie sighs and leans back on the couch staring at the ceiling in despair)
7:00 AM
SCENE: KITCHEN
(Alex washes the dishes in tense silence. Izzie walks inside the kitchen with Alex's back towards her.)
Izzie: (Inhales and exhales) Your right.
Alex: (Still washing) About what?
Izzie: About me not having to tell you about the twins when I did. I didn't have to tell you but I did because…because at that time I hadn't heard from you in almost a decade. When you called me I was…shocked and when you heard Alexis in the background I…I couldn't stop myself from telling you. I think it was guilt or automatic response from practicing telling in my head for years but I did. I don't know why I decided to tell you then but I know why I didn't tell you before that.
Alex: (Turns to face Izzie) Okay, why?
Izzie: (Sighs) Because I blew us up. I thought you got me fired and instead of confronting you face to face I…I ran.
(Alex looks down as the painful memories come back)
Izzie: I ran away to hurt you like I thought you hurt me and…when I came back to make things right you rejected me because you deserved someone who would stay. I didn't stay, I left you like everyone else you loved has and…it was my biggest regret. When I decided to get pregnant it was years after I left and by then I was convinced you had moved on and you did. I didn't tell you about Alexis and Eli because I didn't want you to stay with me for the wrong reasons. I didn't want you to go back to the person who made your life hell not because you loved her but because you wanted your kids to have a family you didn't have. I…I realize that my actions then were abhorrent and even thought you signed your rights away I knew how much you would love to be a father…and I took that away from you. I know you don't forgive me and I know this wont make you but…but maybe it will make you understand where my mind was back then and why I did what I did.
Alex: (Sighs and wipes his hands dry) You did hurt me, you left me and you almost made me swear off on love because you ruined that in less than a month of marriage. (Izzie bitterly nods) But I get it now, it took a while but I understand why you did what you did back then. You just survived cancer and O'Malley died, that can cause anyone to make irrational decisions. I was resentful at the time I'm still resentful but I get it, you were unwell at the time. I didn't understand back then but I do now and…if you had come to me telling me that you were using the embryos, I would've taken you back. I loved you then and you were always on my mind, you hurt me but you also made me better. I became a better man because of you I know what love is like now thanks to you. I don't hate you Izzie, not then not now, you're the reason I'm a better man, a kind of man that Jo deserves. I'm a father now because you gave me two of those miracles and are letting me in their lives. I am thankful for the family you gave me…but I have another family back in Seattle. I have a life Izzie, I'm about to be a father again and I want to be a part of that in every step of the way. But more importantly I want my kids to be a part it too.
(Izzie looks at Alex in awe over his confession)
8:00 AM
SCENE: IZZIES LIVING ROOM
(Alex sits on the couch rubbing his eyes tiredly when Izzie comes in with a cup of coffee for him)
Alex: (Grabs the cup) Thanks. When do the kids get here?
Izzie: The Harris's are driving them now, they should be here in a few minutes which is enough time to relax before the storm.
(Alex chuckles as Izzie lays back in the armchair drinking her coffee relaxing)
Alex: Look I'm sorry for springing that whole thing on you, I get it if you don't want to do this.
Izzie: …I suppose in that long night of arguing I…I could see that…you were right in saying we should move back to Seattle.
(Alex looks up at her shocked by her compliance)
Alex: Really?
Izzie: (Nods) Yeah I would need to arrange some stuff and sell this land but hopefully we can start the process and-
(Alex interrupts Izzie with a hug startling her. Alex sighs in relief before releasing her and looking at her gratefully)
Alex: (Doesn't want her to regret this) Iz…you don't have to do this if you don't want to. I don't want you to give up your happiness for mine.
Izzie: (Grins and stands up) Alex…The only reason I'm happy is because you've given me the greatest joys in my life. Now it's my turn to do the same for you.
(Alex looks at her touched and hugs her again which she responds to this time. The door opens and two shrill voices fill the room and breaks them up)
Alexis and Eli: Mommy!
(They stop in place when they see that Alex is also in room smiling at the sight of them)
Alex: What are you just gonna stand there gawking or are you gonna give your old man a hug?
(Alex bends down as they run toward him giggling and hugging him. Izzie grins at the sight)
Izzie: I'll go make us some breakfast; you guys talk while I do that.
(Alex picks up on Izzie's message and sits on the couch with the twins who see his serious face)
Eli: What's wrong dad?
Alex: (Grins) Nothings wrong in fact…what do you guys think of having a little brother or sister?