Nowhere, Kansas

Part V - The Unknown

"The nurse helped us buckle the seat in the car

And they sent us on our way, I drove home so slow.

We had no instructions, the first days were hard

But there's things about babies a woman just knows.

Three in the morning I lay my hand over

Your heart just to know you were safe in your sleep.

When you started walking I fought back the urge

To stay right there beside you, keep you on your feet.

Being your daddy comes natural;

The roses just know how to grow.

It's easy to see that you'll get where you're going

The hard part is letting you go

The hard part is letting you go."

* * *

Four months later.

"Hey, little butthole. You nervous?"

Alex's gaze shoots up from the notecards he'd been studying. With his concentration shattered, the anticipatory hum from the crowd of pediatric surgeons waiting for the start of his presentation comes flooding into his awareness. He's been alone in the green room for the past half hour, absently running his thumb over two trinkets in his pocket – a Wonder Woman Lego minifigure and a bright copper penny, good luck charms pressed upon him by his children when he'd kissed them goodbye on his way to catch his flight to Chicago – and trying without much success to get his head in the game before he has to go on stage.

He's gotten used to presenting research over the years; he's not a fan, but when you're running the kind of cutting-edge program Alex is building, the surgeries you do are only part of the equation. The rest is studying, doing research, grant-writing, and telling everyone what you've learned so that people will give you a ton of attention and money and you can get back to the thing you want to do most – saving lives. But after his and Izzie's conversation last night – it was a fight, really, but they're older and kinder and try harder these days, so their fights are now called "conversations" – he can't seem to focus on the task at hand.

So the sight of a sunny blonde walking towards him with a huge grin on her face is even more welcome than it might have been otherwise.

"Robbins!"

She bounces on her good leg as she reaches up to hug him around the neck. "Seriously, you're looking a little green around the gills," she observes when she pulls away. "You wanna run through your presentation with me? Get some feedback? Give me your notecards."

Alex pulls them out of her reach, but he's grinning. "I'm not nervous. I learned from the best, after all."

Arizona beams at him. "Oh, that's very good. Flatter me to get me to leave you alone. You're smarter than I gave you credit for." She smooths the lapels of the crisp teal suit jacket Izzie pressed for him last night – even when they fight, she takes care of him – and studies his face. "It's been too long. How are you? How're the kids? Izzie? Tell me everything."

His phone in his pocket buzzes. He ignores it, at least for now. He knows it's Izzie. He knows what it's about.

Instead, he tells Arizona, "You do realize I am going on stage in, like, three minutes. Everything will take a little longer to tell."