The Home and The Heart

That's When

Three days into her third trimester, Jo caught a glimpse of herself in the bathroom mirror.

She used her left hand to swipe away at the condensation that had accumulated there during her shower, and the sight of herself in her newly purchased bathrobe caught her attention (Alex purchased the new one three weeks prior after Jo's realisation that the old one no longer wrapped around her comfortably). At just over twenty-eight weeks pregnant, Jo continued to be amazed by her body's changes. Sure, she had completed the necessary pregnancy and pre-natal modules in medical school, but experiencing it in real life was something else entirely. 

For years, Jo had been sure that she would never be able to live through the joys of pregnancy. In fact, for a long time, she was adamant that she didn't want to. She never had a good parental figure of her own to gain any form of knowledge or inspiration from, and she would never condemn a child to a life that involved any trace of her ex-husband. 

But naturally, as he had changed everything, there was Alex. Despite having an awful upbringing of his own involving anything from parental abuse to drug use, Alex was indubitably excited for their child's arrival. Jo felt safe and was preparing herself for the birth of their daughter as the days and weeks progressed, and Jo knew she had finally found the missing pieces she had been craving her whole life. 

...

Jo breathed a contented sigh as she walked into the scrub room for OR-3. The patient she was due to operate on was non-emergent and Jo's day had been running as smoothly as it could be at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

"Bailey, hi!" Jo greeted as she reached for a fresh surgical gown, tieing it at her waist with a slight bow.

"Wilson, good morning. You ready to get started?" Bailey stepped away from the sink, hands damp with palms up.

"When am I not?" Jo quipped, following the attending into the surgical suite that had been prepped for the patient's kidney transplant. 

Jo and Bailey worked methodically as a team, having done so many times previously. Each surgeon knew the other's next step and question before the query ever left their mouth, and after just ninety minutes Mrs Davies was headed to recovery with a brand new kidney.

"How are you doing, Wilson? We haven't had much time to catch up since the trial." Bailey asked as she reached for the scrub-room iodine soap.

Jo pondered the question for a moment, how was she doing? She knew for a fact that she was content for the first time in her life - she had a stable job and home, a partner that loved her to death and a child on the way. 

"I'm... good. Really good actually. I am not going to lie, I am still getting used to the thought of being safe as something that is a constant and not something that I am having to fight tooth and nail for, but I really am okay I think." Jo unloaded all at once, aware that Bailey would have some level of understanding in regard to her words. 

"I am very glad to hear it, Wilson. I know you are probably getting used to people telling you this, but you truly deserve it," Jo smiled widely, heartily accepting the compliment given by one of her mentors, "You just keep doing what you're doing and keep growing that baby, just try to make sure she's more like her mother than her father when she arrives, just so I can keep some of my sanity." Bailey joked, drying her hands on a fresh towel and leaving the room without waiting for Jo's response. 

Casting her eyes to the clock, Jo realised that it was quickly approaching lunchtime and wondered how Alex's day was fairing up. Before she had a moment to ponder, however, she was paged 9-1-1 to the pit. Deflating slightly, knowing that any future prospect of lunch with her fiancee had gone out of the window, she quickly dried her hands and headed for the elevators, knowing that her afternoon was going to be a busy one.