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iamtrebleclefstories · 4 years ago

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How are your creative juices going now? Inspired again? I love whenever you post so just mentally preparing myself for withdraw ahah /// No but seriously I do love your fics. I think you should write one where Jo suspects she is pregnant again soon after having their first child and has to tell Alex

Hi! So I really wasn’t going to write anything. I was just going to thank you for your kinds words and attempt to write one of my ongoing stories but for some reason this prompt really got me inspired. So... I have have written a little something for you!

Can’t Say I’m Surprised

“We have a problem!”

“What?” Meredith furrowed her brows as a frantic Jo dragged her into a supply closet. “What is going on?”

“I messed up, Mer. I messed up big time and I don’t even know how I’m gonna begin to tell Alex,” Jo paced back and forth between the racks full of bedpans, blankets, and betadine.

“Jo, I need you to slow down if I’m going to help you,” Meredith grabbed Jo by the shoulders, forcing her to stop pacing.

Jo let out a belabored sigh and looked down at the floor, “I messed up, Meredith. I knew I shouldn’t but I wanted it so bad, I wanted him so bad that I didn’t even stop to think of the consequences. The alcohol in my system didn’t help either.”

Meredith’s eyes widened, “Hold on. Jo, are you saying what I think you’re saying? Did you cheat on Alex?”

“What? No!” Jo exclaimed, a mildly offended expression on her face. “I would never cheat on Alex. Why would you even ask me that?”

“I’m sorry, but you have to understand what it sounded like from my end. You pulled me in here and started walking like a chicken with your head cut off talking about how you wanted someone so badly and didn’t think of the consequences,” Meredith replied.

“Yeah I see where you could’ve gotten the wrong idea from that,” Jo winced. “I didn’t have sex with another man. The problem is that I had drunk sex with my husband.”

“I’m not following here. Why is that a problem?” a confused expression crossed Meredith’s face. “He’s your husband, have all the sex you want.”

“No, Meredith you don’t get it,” Jo shook her head.

“Obviously not.”

“I haven’t been on any birth control since I had Max. I had an IUD that I got removed when we started trying. I never got it replaced. We started using condoms again, which we stopped using three months into our relationship, so we’re aren’t exactly good at using them. And a few weeks ago, I had drunk sex with my husband. I wanted him so badly that I completely forgot,” Jo explained nervously.

Meredith gasped, “Oh my God. Are you pregnant?”

“Maybe? I don’t know,” Jo leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. “I have all the same symptoms I had with Max. I’ve been nauseous, I have weird food aversions and cravings, and I’ve been getting dizzy.”

“You haven’t take a test yet?” Meredith looked at Jo who shook her head. “Well then, we’ll draw your blood right now and have the results within the hour.”

Meredith took Jo by the arm and led her out of the supply closet into and empty exam room, “Okay. I will be right back. I’m going to get the stuff to draw your blood.”

A couple minutes later everything was done. Jo was putting pressure on the needle stick as she pulled it out and laid a bandaid on it. She let out a breath, “Mer, what am I going to do? What if I’m pregnant again? It’s too soon. Max is only four months old. How do I tell my husband that we’re having another baby months after I gave birth to the first one? We’re just starting to get used to a routine.”

“First of all, you need to calm down. Let’s not worry about anything until we have answers,” Meredith attempted ease Jo’s worries. “And secondly, a baby is a good thing. You and Alex both want lots of kids, you know that. Yeah, it might be earlier than you expected, but he won’t be mad. So don’t be scared about that. He’ll be ecstatic.”

“Yeah. You’re right. He’s been trying to knock me up for years. Ever since my fourth year of residency. He’ll be happy,” Jo tried convincing herself that it would all be okay.

“Come on, let’s go. We’re going to be late for rounds. The results should be in my the time we’re done and I’ll be with you when you find out,” Meredith rubbed a comforting hand on Jo’s shoulders as they walked out into the hallway.

*****

Jo had just finished rounding on her last patient when she quite literally bumped into Alex. Alex held out his hands to steady her, “Woah, careful princess. Be glad you ran into me and not a patient.”

“Sorry,” Jo offered. “I’m just... in a rush. You haven’t seen Meredith have you?”

“Nope,” Alex shook his head. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Jo for a moment. “Are you okay? You seem... distracted. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah. Everything’s fine,” Jo forced a smile on her face. “I do really need to find Meredith, though, so I’m gonna go...”

“Uh huh,” Alex nodded as his wife ran away awkwardly.

Jo ran off to the supply closet where she and Meredith first met that morning in hopes of finding her there. She waited for a couple minutes before Meredith ran through the doors with an envelope, “I’ve got the results back from the lab. Do you want to do it or should I?”

“You do it,” Jo released a nervous breath. “I don’t think I’ll be able to open it.”

“Okay,” Meredith gave Jo a short nod and proceeded to open the envelope. She unfolded the paper and ran her eyes over the lab work with a blank expression on her face. Finally, Meredith looked up. “Well, Jo. You are most definitely pregnant.”

“Holy shit,” were the first words to leave Jo’s lips. She clasped her hands over her mouth, gasping at what she’d said. “I mean... actually, yes I mean holy shit. I’m pregnant?”

“Yup,” Meredith smiled sympathetically. “Probably somewhere around the 4-5 weeks range from your levels.”

“Freaking Karev and his weirdly fertile sperm,” Jo grumbled. “This is the second time he’s knocked me up on the first try. Except this time, we weren’t even actually trying.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Meredith laughed. “He’s been talking about all the kids you guys will have since you got married. He’s very eager.”

“Well, if he keeps doing what he’s doing, at this rate we’ll end up with like six kids,” Jo rubbed a hand on her forehead. “I need to lay down. But I have surgery in 30 minutes.”

“How about you go take a nap in an on-call room and I’ll take your first surgery. I don’t have anything scheduled until 2pm anyway and was going to see if I could scrub in with you,” Meredith suggested.

“Thanks,” Jo nodded and made her way to an on-call room. She’d been sleeping for what must’ve been an hour when she heard the door creek open.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize there was anyone in here,” the person apologized. “Hold on... Jo is that you?”

Jo turned and came face to face with her husband. In his arms was their four month old son, “What the hell? Do you do this? Take him out of daycare during your free time to hang out in the on-call rooms?”

Alex looked like a kid who’d just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, “Yeah... usually I walk around the peds wing with him strapped to my chest, but there’s a clown going around and he doesn’t deserve to be traumatized from such a young age.”

Jo busted out in laughter, “That might just be the sweetest thing you’ve ever said. You are the best dad.”

“Thanks,” Alex said, a shy smile creeping onto his face. He never planned on telling Jo about his routine of taking Max out of daycare, but honestly, it felt good knowing that she thought what he did made him a better dad. “What are you doing here? I thought you had a surgery this morning?”

“Oh... um, Meredith took it. I was feeling tired so she offered to take my surgery so I could lay down,” Jo explained.

“Are you sick?” Alex sat down next to Jo and placed a hand on her forehead.

“No. I just... didn’t sleep well last night,” Jo admitted.

“Yeah I noticed,” Alex nodded. “You were really restless all night long. You only get like that when you’re stressed. What’s bothering you?”

As much as Jo loved how attentive her husband was, this was one of those moments where she wished that he’d just turn a blind eye. Taking in the quiet of the on-call room and the calming sensation of holding her baby in her arms, Jo figured that there were worse places to disclose this information. She took a deep breath, “I’m pregnant.”

Alex raised his eyebrows and grinned, “I was wondering how long it would take you to figure it out.”

“Wait... what?” Jo scrunched her face in confusion. “You knew?”

“Of course I knew,” Alex scoffed. “I figured it out a week ago. I was trying to see how long it would take you to realize.”

Jo’s jaw dropped in disbelief, “You thought something was up and you didn’t tell me!”

“I didn’t want to freak you out,” Alex confessed. “Max is only four months old and we weren’t planning on having another until he was at least two years old. So when you started having symptoms, I kept my mouth shut because I felt bad for knocking you up again so soon.”

“I was scared to tell you because I was afraid you’d freak out that I got pregnant not even six months after having the first one,” Jo laughed. “Oh my God. We’re having another baby.”

“We’re having another baby,” Alex smiled widely and took Max into his hands. “You hear that Max? You’re gonna be a big brother pretty soon.”

“He has no idea what’s coming for him,” Jo chuckled. She reached out to stroke Max’s hair and then leaned her head on Alex’s shoulder. “I love you. I know this wasn’t supposed to happen so soon, but I’m happy about it because I know that we can do this. We can do it together.”

“Hell yeah we can,” Alex kissed Jo’s forehead lightly. “And for the record, I love you more.”

#jolex #jolex fanfic #alex karev #jo karev #jo wilson #greys anatomy #jo x alex #grey's anatomy #greys fanfic #greys au #jolex fluff #jolex babies #jolex forever #meredith grey #Meredith x Jo #merjo friendship #accidental baby acquisition #unplanned pregnancy

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iamtrebleclefstories · 4 years ago

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The Little Bit of Hope I Cling To - Part 3

Izzie goes to Grey Sloan looking for Bailey, Meredith, or Alex. She meets Dr. Karev instead

*takes place early s15*

Part 3:

——————

The next few months went by quickly. Izzie’s surgeries had gone well and she was undergoing IL-2 treatments again in hopes of killing the cancer. While she was working hard to fight her cancer, she hired a caregiver to make sure her mom was okay. About a month after her last surgery, Izzie was discharged from the hospital. With Maggie living with Jackson and Amelia living with Owen, Izzie, Geo, and Piper all moved into Meredith’s house. For about two weeks they’d been living there and Izzie was bored out of her mind.

“I need to get out of this house,” Izzie banged her head against the kitchen island. “I need to go to work. I can’t sit here all day doing nothing. I’m a freaking neurosurgeon.”

“Trust me, I get it,” Meredith chuckled. “Why don’t you just ask Alex for a job? I’m sure he’d be willing to move some things around for you to work at least a few hours throughout the week.”

“You’re kidding right?” Izzie picked her head up from the counter and raised her eyebrows. “He’s not going to give me privileges. Have you seen the way he’s been hovering these past three months? He didn’t want to discharge me. The only reason I’m here right now is because Jo said it was ridiculous to keep me in the hospital and that she was my surgeon, so she was the one who got to clear me to go home.”

“Maybe you should talk to Jo then? Get her to soften him up. Tell her to tell him that she’s prescribing work because mental health is just as important as physical health when it comes to fighting cancer,” Meredith suggested as she readied the kids lunches for school. “Does Geo like carrots?”

“Not really, but put them in his lunch box. He needs the vegetables,” Izzie played with the hem of her sweater. “You know, I think I will talk to Jo. I need this. I need to work. I don’t care where. I’ll even work in the clinic if I have to. I’ll see if she can talk to him for me. She’s the only one he has a hard time saying no to... When the hell did he get so whipped?”

“Oh, just somewhere around six years ago,” Meredith laughed. “He’s been whipped since before they even got together.”

Izzie popped a couple blueberries into her mouth, “Tell me how they met. Every time I ask either of them, they try to change the subject. I don’t know if it’s because I’m the ex-wife or because they don’t like talking about it and being all mushy, but I really want to hear about it.”

“Well, Jo was an intern and Alex was doing his first year of fellowship. They met because Jo was on his service one day. He was a jerk the majority of the day. So, Jo told him that he didn’t have to worry about being nice to her because she had no plans on sleeping with him, since he’d already slept with all of her friends. Things obviously worked out very differently,” Meredith smirked.

“Of course he slept all her friends first,” Izzie chuckled softly. “But how did they get together? I’m still not understanding. Did they end up falling into bed together or something? Alex and I had sex in a supply closet while you had your hand in that guy’s body holding a bomb.”

“Wait, that’s happened?” Meredith raised her eyebrows and laughed when Izzie nodded embarrassed. “I can’t believe you guys... But anyway, no that’s not what happened. A few months later, they became best friends after going to Bailey’s wedding. They would hang out all the time and drink beer like old buddies. I kept asking Alex why he didn’t just ask her out already and he insisted that there was nothing going on between the two of them. Fast forward six months and a whole lot of complicated things, and Alex finally told her that he was in love with her. Then they kissed.”

“Hold on, he said I love you before sleeping with her first?” Izzie asked in surprise.

“Yup,” Meredith grinned as she nodded. “You know, they were a thing for entire week before having sex? He kept chickening out because he said he wanted it to be special. Jo on the other hand was desperate to jump his bones, haha.”

“He really did change,” Izzie shook her head in disbelief. “Jo is good for him. It’s like they were made for each other.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Meredith said as she finally sat down to drink her coffee. “I was a little worried at first when you came back. Not because I doubt Alex or anything like that. I know Alex would never leave Jo. He’s willing to die, kill, and go to jail for, in love with her. But I was worried that you would try to cause problems. And I was worried for Jo. She’d been through a lot in her life. Maybe even more than me, but she’s always smiled and been happy. I was worried that being your surgeon would cause her to lose some of that. She never did though, and she still hasn’t.”

“Honestly, I kind of fell in love with her. So I completely understand,” Izzie chuckled. She really meant it too. Jo had been wonderful in the past few months. She didn’t know how to even begin thanking the woman for all that she’d done for her.

“I’m going to the hospital. Are you coming with me?” Meredith asked.

“Yeah,” Izzie nodded. “I’m going to go upstairs and and get the kids.”

***

“Jo, come on babe. We’ve got to go or we’re gonna be late,” Alex yelled from the opposite side of the loft.

Jo sat in the bathroom staring in disbelief at the pregnancy test she held in her hands. After months of trying and receiving negative test results, Jo finally saw the answer she’d been hoping for. She hadn’t planned on taking a test this morning. She usually did one every few weeks. Today she’d seen the box under the bathroom cabinet and decided to take it.

Truthfully, as much as she longed for it, she hadn’t expected those results. She hadn’t expected the little flutter in her chest and the prickling of tears in her eyes when she saw the two little lines she’d prayed for. It was positive. She was pregnant.

“Jo, we really need to leave. Let’s go,” Alex knocked on the bathroom door, startling her out of the moment.

Taking a calming breath, she called out, “Coming! Just need to wash my hands. Wait for me in the car.”

Alex grumbled something she couldn’t quite make out. Jo waited until she heard the loft door close before walking out, the positive pregnancy test clutched tightly in her hand. She crossed over to the other side of the loft and placed the test in her nightstand, hiding it underneath a couple articles she’d been reading. Grabbing her purse, she steadied herself and schooled her expression so as not to alert Alex of her newfound knowledge.

She jumped into the passenger seat and pretended like it was any other day. As much as Jo wanted to just blurt it out, she wanted to take a blood test in the hospital first before telling Alex. She wanted to be sure, and she wanted it to be special.

They arrived just as Meredith and Izzie were walking towards the hospital entrance. Alex and Jo hopped out of the car and greeted the two women warmly.

“What are you doing here?” Alex turned to Izzie. “You should be home resting.”

“I came to talk to you about letting me work,” Izzie gave Jo a pleading look. “Jo said that my mental health is very important to my reconvert and she suggested that I do things I love and get back to as normal of a routine as possible.”

Understanding what Izzie was trying to tell her, Jo nodded, “Yes. That’s right. She should be getting back to her normal routine, which includes work. Not as many hours as she was working before, but she definitely needs to do what she loves. She needs to work. Doctors orders.”

The three women looked over at Alex expectantly. His eyes flitted back and forth between them and he eyed Jo skeptically, “I feel like you guys are ganging up on me.”

“Come on, Alex. Let her work. She’s okay and she needs this,” Jo looked at Alex with wide eyes that she knew he wouldn’t be able to resist.

“Fine, you can work in the clinic,” Alex sighed as she addressed Izzie. “But no heavy lifting or exerting yourself. And I’ll grant you privileges to work on simple neuro cases that come into the ER, like clipping aneurysms.”

“Ah! Thank you!” Izzie jumped in excitement and gave Alex a brief hug. “Best chief ever!” She turned to Jo and smiled, “And you are amazing! I get to put on some scrubs for the first time in months.”

Alex rolled his eyes, “I’m going inside. See you guys later.”

The ladies walked over to the coffee cart and got in line to place their orders. Once up at the front, Jo asked for her coffee, “Hi. Can I get a a regular coffee, two creams, two sugars? Actually make it decaf.”

“Decaf?” Meredith looked at Jo quizzically. “Why are you getting decaf? You live off of expresso shots.”

“That’s true, every time I saw you with a cup in your hand, it was always something with expresso in it,” Izzie tilted her head in confusion. “You thrive off of caffeine.”

“I just... didn’t want it today,” Jo shrugged, hoping that would be a good enough explanation to distract from the fact that she’d only ordered decaf because she may be pregnant.

“Since when do you not want caffeine?” Meredith questioned.

Izzie gasped, “Oh my God! Are you pregnant?”

Jo froze in surprise. She’d always figured that if she were to get pregnant, Meredith would be one of the first to know. Ever since she and Meredith got closer, the order of people finding out would be Meredith, Alex, Link, Ben, and Bailey. She never once expected that her husband’s ex-wife would be on that list, let alone figure it out before anyone else. So, that’s why she just stood there in shock, I unanswering.

“Oh God, you are pregnant!” Meredith exclaimed.

“Shhhh! Keep it down. I don’t need everyone to know that the chief’s wife is pregnant before I even tell him,” Jo looked around frantically, hoping that no one else heard what happened.

“Wait, he doesn’t know?” Izzie asked.

“No. I found out this morning as he was rushing me to get out of the house,” Jo scanned the area and spoke in a hushed voice. “The car on our way to work didn’t seem like the appropriate time to share this life changing news. I want it to be special. Plus, I really want to take a blood test first to be sure.”

“Well then what are we waiting for? Let’s go do the test right now,” Meredith urged.

“We can go to the clinic and do it in one of the private exam rooms. It doesn’t open for another hour, but I can take the test for you and no one will ever know,” Izzie grabbed Jo by the hand and started walking away from the coffee cart, motioning for Meredith to follow. “Come on, let’s go!”

***

“You know what I just realized?” Izzie wondered out loud.

“What?” Meredith and Jo said at the same time.

“Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time I’ve run a pregnancy test for someone Alex may have knocked up,” Izzie chuckled as she thought back to events of over a decade ago.

“Alex knocked someone else up? Alex has a kid?” Jo’s eyes widened and her voice raised in pitch.

“What? No! No, no, no... when we were second year residents his ex-girlfriend Rebecca thought she was pregnant and I ran a pregnancy on her that came out negative. She was having a hysterical pregnancy,” Izzie explained as she removed the needle from Jo’s arm and disposed of it.

“Ooh, I forgot about that,” Meredith gasped. “That girl was insane. Actually crazy.”

“Wait, is this the same girlfriend that peed on your couch?” Jo turned to Meredith.

“Yup,” Meredith nodded. “Ava—or Rebecca was her real name. She was a patient that Alex saved and she fell in love with him... and then she went crazy.”

“I’m not crazy,” Jo looked back and forth between both women. “I know I have had my moments, but it was really was positive.”

“Jo, we know you’re not crazy,” Izzie laughed. “Trust me, we know crazy—I was crazy for a minute there. I had a brain tumor that caused me to hallucinate my dead fiancé.”

“I’m going to take these to the lab and put a rush on them. Go about your day like normal and we’ll meet for lunch to give you the results,” Meredith squeezed Jo’s shoulder as she walked out.

Jo watched as Izzie cleaned up the supplies they’d used for the blood draw, “I’m sorry. This must be really weird for you. You just ran a pregnancy test for your ex-husband’s new wife. It’s not exactly something I’d be thrilled to do. But then again, my ex-husband was a horrible human being, so let’s be glad he never procreated.”

“You were married before?” Izzie paused and looked up at Jo.

“Uh—yeah... it’s a very long story, but I was in an abusive marriage with a man who almost killed me on multiple occasions. I ran away, changed my name, and never divorced him. But then a little over a year ago, he died after being hit by a drunk driver, and I was free.”

“I can’t even begin to imagine what that must’ve been like for you,” Izzie frowned sadly. She felt like there was still so much she had left to learn about the woman Alex married. The resilience after so much hardship and the ability to smile after enduring so much pain were encouraging. “If you are pregnant, this baby is going to be very strong.”

“Thanks,” Jo smiled as she stood up. She looked over at Izzie and opened the door. “Come on, let’s go get your scrubs.”

***

Hours later, the three women met outside the ER to read the results. Jo was fidgeting nervously. Everything within her was on edge. She knew she was pregnant. She had to be pregnant. The stick she peed on this morning had two lines and she was almost positive her labs would reflect the presence of child in her uterus. Sure, she didn’t really have any symptoms yet, but the entire morning she thought back and realized that her last period was over six weeks ago. She’d been so busy with Izzie’s case and her fellowship, that she’d failed to notice.

Meredith held the paper in her hands, “Do you want to read it or do you want me to do it?”

“You do it,” Jo bit her bit anxiously. She watched as Meredith slowly unfolded the paper, Izzie leaning over her shoulder to see the results. “I think I’ll chicken out if I do it. Which sounds stupid because we want this. We’ve been trying for months, now. But for some reason, I just feel like I want to puke.”

“Well, that might just be the morning sickness talking because you’re definitely pregnant,” Izzie shared, a wide grin dawning her face. “Congratulations!”

“Yup,” Meredith nodded, an equally large smile gracing her features. “Your hCG levels indicate that you are pregnant. Probably six to seven weeks along.”

Jo took a deep breath, “Oh my God... I’m pregnant.”

“You’re pregnant,” Meredith chuckled and gave Jo a hug. “You two are going to be the very best parents to this baby.”

“I need to tell Alex,” Jo finally said, some of the shock beginning to wear off. She got up from the bench she’d been sitting on to go to his office when Izzie stopped her.

“Woah, hold on a minute. You can’t just go barging in and say ‘we’re having a baby.’ You gotta do something cute,” Izzie insisted. “And you’ve got to plant a camera to record his reaction when you tell him because we definitely want to see that.”

“You’re right,” Jo nodded. “That’s why I didn’t tell him this morning. I want it to be special.”

“It’s going to be special no matter what you do,” Meredith placed a hand on Jo’s shoulder. “It’s special because the baby is special, and your love is special. However you decide to tell him will be special.”

Jo took in Meredith’s advice and decided that it was true. But it didn’t make her want to abandon the thought of a sweet gesture any less. Deciding what she wanted to do, Jo made arrangements to set her plan in motion.

By the time she and Alex got off work, there were only a couple things she had left to do before telling him about the baby. Meredith had stopped by the loft early to plant the items she’d need for her pregnancy reveal. As they pulled into their parking space outside the loft, Jo felt her heart begin to beat rapidly.

She turned in her seat to look at Alex, “So, I have a surprise for you inside the house. It was delivered early so you’ve got to keep your eyes closed until I tell you. Promise you won’t open them until I say so.”

Alex sighed. He was tired and really just want to shower and go to sleep, but his wife had taken the time out of her day to surprise him. The least he could do was be grateful, “Okay. I promise.”

Jo led him up into the loft with her hands covering his eyes, much like the first time she’d surprised him with their couch. She stopped him right in front of that very piece of furniture and removed her hands, “Ta dah!”

“It’s our couch... the couch you already surprised me with six years ago,” Alex made a face.

Jo slapped his arm, “Not the couch you dummy. Look at what’s on it.”

“It’s a box of pizza. Not that I don’t love pizza, but why?”

Jo released an exasperated sigh, “You have to open the box first, you dummy.”

Jo watched as Alex leant down and slowly opened the box up, revealing the message inside. Congrats on being promoted to Dad. She watched his face contort with a variety of emotions before meeting hers with a look of wonder.

“You’re pregnant?”

“I’m pregnant,” Jo nodded. “Probably about six weeks or so.”

“We’re having a baby,” Alex stood up from his position of being hunched forwards to wrap Jo in his arms. “Oh my God. We’re having a baby!”

“We’re having a baby!” Jo laughed and released the breath she’d been holding. “We’re going to be parents!”

“Hell yeah, we are.”

#jolex #alex karev #jo karev #greys anatomy #jolex fanfic #jo wilson #grey's anatomy #jo x alex #greys fanfic #greys au #meredith grey #izzie stevens #merjo friendship

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bishopsbelova · 5 years ago

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We Make The Rules

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy Characters: Jo Wilson, Alex Karev, Meredith Grey Pairings: Jolex, Merjo and Merlex friendship Summary: All that mattered was that they loved each other and they would do anything for the other.They made the rules in their life. Not anyone else. * Can also be read on ffn

“Has Alex said anything to you?”

Meredith glanced up from her table to glance at Jo. She knew, technically, that it could have been slightly overbearing going to Meredith; but she was tired of Alex being weird. It seemed like no matter what she did; Alex refused to open up to her about whatever he was dealing with.

Really all she wanted to know was if her husband was okay. And if the only thing she could do to figure that out was go to his person, then that’s what she was going to do.

Meredith sighed. “He hasn’t said anything to me, either. Which, mind you, is totally not like him.”

Jo slumped against the nurse’s station and stuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Well that wasn’t helpful.

Meredith placed the tablet on the nurse’s station and turned to face her. “Okay, what’s going on in your head?”

Jo just raised an eyebrow as she glanced at Meredith.

“And don’t try to say nothing. What’s running through your head, right now.” Meredith said, gently as if she didn’t want to run Jo off. Which truthfully might have happened if Jo had been the same person she was a few months ago.

“I’m scared,” Jo admitted, her voice nothing more than a whisper. She felt a weight leave her shoulders saying that out loud.

Meredith didn’t respond, just stood there, allowing Jo the space and time to continue if she wanted to.

Jo took a deep breath to steel herself. Before she knew it, she was opening up to Meredith about the patient she just had. She opened up about all her feelings and fears and everything in between.

“It’s stupid, though,” she added at the end, trying and failing to brush it off. Something she was always used to doing with Paul, who always made her feel like her emotions, feelings and fears never mattered.

Meredith shook her head. “No it’s not. It’s completely valid.” Meredith placed her hands and either of Jo’s shoulders. “Your feelings are valid. Never forget that.”

“And if you want,” Meredith added, stepping away. “I can kick his ass.”

“No, you don't’ have to,” Jo laughed, but she thought for a moment. “Unless you absolutely want to, then I won’t stop you.”

///////////

“Talk to your wife!” Meredith yelled through the phone as soon as Alex picked it up. He was definitely taken aback because he sure wasn’t expecting that.

Alex blinked and then remembered that Meredith couldn’t see him. “What?” he said instead.

“You’re being weird and Jo is realizing it,” Meredith responded. “She thinks something’s up. And she’s scared, Alex. So get your head out of your ass and talk to your wife about whatever is going on with you.”

Alex felt like he was punched in the gut as he finished the call with Meredith. He had been avoiding talking about what Izzie told him, instead choosing to push it away so he could focus on Pac North and his other side project he’d been working on.

At least for the time being, anyway.

Alex knew he had to think about it eventually, he had to talk about it eventually. But he was so gobsmacked about finding out he had kids; he didn’t even know how to form actual sentences about it. Let alone allow himself to think about it.

Besides that, he had so much to do at the hospital, he was actively turning it around and he felt good about it. Alex Karev, former demon spawn, was actually making a damn difference.

It felt great.

Alex hadn’t even realized that of course Jo would have picked up on something. She wasn’t blind after all.

Shit…

He was now realizing his actions were similar to her depressive episode and he was mentally kicking himself. He was a fucking ass.

Alex really needed to talk to her, and soon.

///////

Jo sat at the kitchen island with a glass of wine, wondering if she was going to see Alex at a decent time tonight. She was also wondering if he was even going to come home while she was awake. Within the past few weeks, he’d been coming home after she’d already gone to bed and had left before she woke.

Her own thoughts were answered by the loft door sliding open. She turned her head to see Alex stepping through the doorway. He was definitely struggling with the amount of things he was carrying, or more so, trying to.

Jo took pity on him. She sat her glass down and walked over to help him with the door. He mumbled a thanks as he made his way over to the couch, dropping some of the bags on the cushion before making his way to the kitchen.

“Alex, what the hell is going on?”

Alex had a sheepish grin on his face as he sat more bags on the counter, which Jo finally realized were filled with take out containers.

“I got Thai food on my way home,” he said, gesturing to the containers he was placing on the counter. “And I got your favorite wine, along with some other stuff,” he pointed at the bags on the couch. “I know this doesn’t even begin to make up for the complete ass I’ve been lately; but hopefully it’s a start.”

Jo crossed her arms over her chest as she walked towards the kitchen. “We still need to talk.”

“And we will...we are...over dinner.”

Jo relented, closing the rest of the distance. She helped Alex dish out the take out onto plates from the cabinet. Once the two of them were seated at the table and Jo had grabbed her wine glass, Jo steeled herself for whatever was coming.

Though in retrospective, she felt like if Alex was leaving her, he wouldn’t pull out all the stops to do so. There wouldn’t be a need to put on a show, or go through the motions of a dinner from her favorite Thai place.

“Alex ---”

“Jo --.”

They both share an awkward chuckle and Jo hated it. Things had never been this awkward between them, unless you counted that period of time in her depressive state. Jo motioned for Alex to go ahead.

“I don’t know how to say this. Hell, I’m having a damn hard time wrapping my own head around it,” Alex said.

Jo took a bite from her food as she stared at Alex, wondering where he was going with this.

“Ihavekids!” he blurted out.

Jo stopped mid chew, shocked at the words she thought she heard. Because there was no way that Alex had actually said that he had kids.

“I have kids,” Alex repeated, slower this time, running a hand over his face. “Twins, actually.”

Jo finished chewing and swallowed, her eyes widening. “Yeah, that’s a lot to take in and it explains why you’ve been weird lately.”

Alex stopped with his glass halfway to his mouth. “I’ve been a complete jackass to you, you can admit it. Mer all but said it anyway...I just.” he took a sip. “I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know how to get my head on straight about it. And I didn’t even know who to talk to about it while I sorted everything before I came to you.”

“You could have just come to me,” Jo said, softly. “You know at first I thought this was just payback for what I did to you.”

“I would never throw that back in your face,” Alex said immediately.

“I know.”

They lapsed into a silence, the only sound in the space their forks gliding across their plates. Jo was giving Alex the opportunity to go at his own pace, like he once allowed her.

“I reached out to Izzie when I reached out to everyone else about Mer’s case,” Alex continued, setting down his fork. “That’s all it was supposed to be, but then I heard kids in the background and damn it if I didn’t ask.”

“She used the embryos; which was in her right, I said she could do whatever she wanted with them once we got divorced...twins though, Eli and Alexis; they’re five. They live on a fricking farm in Kansas and Izzie’s an surgical oncologist out there and she’s married to a fricking farmer. Apparently they’ve been together the past two years.”

Jo let out a breath, the married part lifting a weight she didn’t realize had settled on her shoulders. Though just a little, there was still the demon in the back of her mind, whispering, taunting her that Alex could still leave.

“Do...do you,” Jo tilted her head. “You are going to meet them, right?”

“I don’t know Jo,” he admitted, leaning back against his chair. “I mean, yeah I’m their biological father; but they have a dad. But they’re still my kids.”

“Even though they have a dad; they deserve to at least know their biological father. They don’t deserve to grow up wondering who he is or making up stories in their heads of the man he was.”

“I have some personal time saved up...I guess I can take some days and fly out there, leave Pac North in Webber’s hands. He shouldn’t screw it up too bad.” Alex reached across the table then and grasped her hand. He looked directly in her eyes as he spoke. “This doesn’t mean anything. I’m not going to leave you, I’m never going to leave you. I’m a better man with you. I’m with you. You’re the love of my life and the only thing in my life that’s ever made any sense. All I want in life is to be your husband and the father of your kids.”

Jo used her free hand to swipe away the tears that had escaped her eyes. She just nodded, not trusting herself to speak without her voice cracking.

“Which brings me to my next point…”

Jo blinked away the tears. “There’s more?”

“I want to start a life, a family with you, eventually if that’s what you want. I know we haven’t really talked about it too much; but I want that to be a part of the future for us. So, I may have also been looking into the house market….I know it’s even more to take in and you don’t have to agree to anything now but --”

Jo cut him off. “No, Alex. I’ll-- We’ll look into the listings.”

Alex lit up. “Really?”

“Well if we’re going to eventually start a family together, we should probably have a bigger space,” Jo glanced around at the loft and smiled. “Yeah, this place was our home for a while and it’s been fricking great; but with kids, I’d want a yard so that they could run and play and maybe a porch swing.”

“We can have whatever you want.”

Jo reached for her fork to scoop up another bite. “You really have been busy.”

Alex just shrugged. “I had some free time.”

“With running an entire hospital? Really?”

“Multitasking.”

Jo snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

They lapsed into easy going conversation for the rest of their meal. Alex informing her about all the changes he was hoping to do at Pac North, how he was loving having this change to really put the hospital on the map, to actually make a difference. Jo shared some of her latest ridiculous patients, especially the bachelor party guy.

“Wait, they literally swallowed fish?” Alex said on a scoff when they were cleaning and putting away the dishes.

Jo nodded. “Yup.”

Alex just shook his head as he closed the cabinet door. He shuffled over to his bag to grab his tablet, while Jo grabbed the bottle of wine and two glasses. “About those houses though.”

Alex held up the tablet and motioned towards the couch. “Right here.”

It was nice, sitting on their couch, drinking wine, looking at houses, actively planning their future. Despite all the anxiety and nerves she’d been under for the past few weeks, the distrust she was feeling, she couldn’t help but smile.

Alex really was the one, had been the only one to truly see her. It didn’t matter what life threw at them, what tried to force them apart, if they didn’t make sense, nothing mattered. All that mattered was that they loved each other and they would do anything for the other.

They made the rules in their life. Not anyone else.

“Let’s make a promise,” she said and Alex glanced at her.

“What?”

“That from this moment on, we’ll always communicate to each other. No more dodging, no more slinking away into our heads or our own little bubbles. We won’t hide from each other, we’ll just talk. Even if at first it’s just a ‘hey, i’m going through something right now, but I need time to process - just wanted to let you know’ or something similar. So that we don’t freak out.”

Alex nodded. “It’s a pact, right here, right now.” He held up a fist with his pinkie raised.

Jo raised an eyebrow. “A pinkie promise, what are you, five?”

“A pinkie promise is very serious,” Alex defended with a shrug.

Jo just smiled and hooked her own pinkie finger to his. “You’re ridiculous, you know, but I love you.”

“I love you too.”

#grey's anatomy #jolex #jo wilson #alex karev #otp: it'll be just us #mywriting #i did a thing and wrote another post 16x16 fic #writing is how i cope with the bullshit that krista and co gave us

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