Hearts Align

Chapter 15

"This is a date, a picnic date since I'm always on call and as soon as you start working you will be too. I wanted to do something nice. We're gonna have to figure out a way to find time to be together and a random night like this sounded nice. At least it did to me." he replied, grabbing my hand and pulling me over.

"Alex, this is adorable."

"Yeah? I wasn't sure if . . ."

Turning around I got on my toes and kissed him, showing him just how much I liked it and he liked it too. He tapped my thighs so I jumped up and let him pick me up, but he just sat both of us down on the floor. This is honestly the cutest thing that anyone's ever done for me.

"I love it." I told him.

"Good because planning a date is bad for the nerves, man." he chuckled.

"It was very thoughtful of you."

"When do you have to pick up baby Kat?" he asked, nuzzling my neck.

"Not . . . until . . . tomorrow. Alex, the food." I moaned when he sucked on a particular spot.

"It won't go bad." he said as he laid me down on the many pillows and kissed me.

He made love to me by candlelight and it's definitely the sweetest thing that anyone's ever done for me. After I pulled my underwear on and his shirt, we ate and he insisted on cleaning up the living room. I turned on the shower and just waited for him to come back up. There won't be many nights like this so I have to take advantage.

"What are you thinking of?" Alex asked when he walked into the bathroom.

"Of you . . . of this. We're not gonna have lots of nights like this." I said, walking over to him.

"No, we won't." he replied, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"What is this Alex?" I asked.

"We talked about this." he sighed.

"I just . . ."

"What worries you more? Me walking away on my own or me letting Mer convince me to walk away?" he asked.

"Equal." I whispered, looking away from him.

"Kiara, look at me."

I tried to turn away but his hold on me tightened and he pulled my face up but I diverted my eyes.

"Kiara, please, babe, look at me." he muttered.

Sighing deeply, I looked up into the eyes that have deep hooks in me now. He lowered his lips and pressed them softly against mine.

"This isn't just sex to me. I want you, all of you, and that means Kat too. I'm not trying to be her father because she already has one. I want us to try to be a serious relationship but only if you want to." he said, taking my face in his hands.

"Alex, I want us to try to be a serious relationship too." I said.

"Good, now let's shower. I wanna cuddle in bed with you." he smiled.

"A shower and some cuddles sound great." I smiled back.

After a quick shower, Alex and I just laid in my bed watching bad action movies that made us laugh. This is nice and it's something that I haven't let myself have in a long time. I dedicated my time to my family and my career because that's what I had to do. I have to show my daughter that a woman doesn't need a man to survive but, having someone here to cuddle with is definitely nice.

When I woke up I was alone and there was a note on the pillow saying that he got paged for something at the hospital. I could smell the coffee that he made, and there was an apple next to the coffee maker with a little sticky note that said 'Eat me too'. He's cute when he wants to be, very cute.

While I munched on my apple there was a knock on the door. After making sure that I'm presentable, I opened the door for Jackson and Kat.

"What happened? Is everything okay?" I worriedly asked, checking on my daughter and Jackson.

"Yes mom, everything is okay. I got called in for surgery so I brought her here." he said.

"When you get some free time, hit me up. I need to talk to you about something." I told him.

"Are you okay?" he asked, checking me for a fever.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just wanna talk about some things."

"Okay, you and Kat can come over for dinner tomorrow if you want." he offered.

"Sure, I'd like that."

"Sounds like a plan." he smiled before walking back out.

"Hey baby girl, did you have fun?" I asked Kat as she took her shoes off.

"Yeah, daddy made a tent in the living room and it was great!" she smiled as she told me all about her weekend with dad.

Alex wasn't able to come over again tonight but he did text me whenever he had a moment. I miss being busy at the hospital, I miss having patients, and being the fun doctor Kiki. Being a doctor has been my dream for the longest time and I can be honest with myself and say that I freaking want Grey-Sloane.

"Are we going to have dinner with daddy tomorrow?" Katherine asked as I got her ready for bed.

"Yes, we're gonna have dinner at his house."

"Are we going to stay?"

"Uh, no sweetie, me and you live here. Why do you ask?"

"All my friends live with their mommy and daddy. Do you love him? He said he loves you when I asked." she said.

I knew this would come up at some point, especially now that he's in her life. I had hoped that I would be more prepared for it.

"Kat, baby, you can love someone and not be in love with them. I will always love your dad because he gave me you, but I am not in love with him." I told her.

"But he loves you." she argued.

"Baby, he has a wife and he's in love with her but he does love me. I know that and I feel it and I love him too. I know this is a lot and it's confusing but you'll understand as you get older." I said, brushing her curls out of her face.

"But I want you to live with daddy." she sniffled.

"Baby, I'm sorry, daddy and I aren't going to live together. I know that you love him and he loves you a lot too, he loves you so much." I sighed, kissing her forehead. "Good night."

"Good night." she sniffled again.

After turning off the light in her room, her night light automatically came on. I left the door cracked open a little bit and went downstairs. This topic was bound to come up but I hoped to have a little more time to prepare for it. Pouring a glass of wine, I grabbed my cell phone and went to the living room. Before I could dial the phone rang and a smile bloomed on my face.

"Hi." I sighed, taking a sip of my wine.

"You don't sound happy to hear from me." Alex chuckled.

"No . . . I am, I just . . . Kat and I are gonna have dinner with Jackson tomorrow. I wanna talk to him about babysitting options for if I decide to go back."

"Okay, that doesn't sound bad. Where's the stress babe?"

"She asked me if we're gonna stay with him." I sighed again.

"Oh, I don't know what to say."

I could hear the stall in his voice, the one that Jackson Avery causes and will cause for quite some time. Just my fucking luck.