Forever and a Day//Jolex

Chapter 5

Two weeks after her accident, Jo was ready to be discharged from the hospital. Alex was by Jo's bedside every second of every day, and he didn't plan for that to change once they got home. Alex threw the last of Jo's things into a duffel bag and helped her into a wheelchair, and a nurse escorted them to the car as per the hospital protocol.
When they got home, Alex helped her onto the couch and gave her a blanket and pillow, then turned on her favorite cheesy reality show, which Alex always found amusing. He sat beside her and she cuddled up against him.
They watched TV quietly for a while, and eventually Jo fell asleep. Alex picked her up and moved her into their bed, and sat beside her, making sure she was still breathing.
When she woke up a few hours later at 5 p.m, Alex was ready to spend the rest of the night tending to her.
"I ran to the store while you were asleep. I got three kinds of soup, pizza pockets, a few flavors of ice cream, and a ton of boxed mac and cheese. Plus, plenty of trashy magazines to keep you busy." He says, fanning out a stack of tabloids.
"Thank you, baby. Come lay with me." She says, patting the spot beside her.
"Do you want anything? Another pillow?" He asks, laying next to his wife.
"No. Just... hold me."
Alex spooned jo in bed with one arm around her and the other over hers on her swollen stomach.
Just as Jo was beginning to nod off, she felt a flutter in her stomach.
"Ow!" She said, more startled than in pain.
"What? Did I hurt you?" Alex freaked out.
"Did you feel? She kicked!"
"She kicked? Where, I want to feel" He said. Jo laughed.
"You sound like little kid. Put your hand here." She said, taking his hand and placing where she felt movement.
They sat like that for at least an hour, marveling at the tiny kicks of their unborn daughter. Each time, Jo would feel a movement, get excited, and move Alex's hand into the right spot, and each time he missed it and the baby moved again.
"She's stubborn like her daddy." Jo teased.
"She's a Karev, all right."

*****

By the time Jo was 18 weeks, she was back at work and the whole hospital knew about her pregnancy.
Even though she was always hungry and tired and had to pee every other minute, she loved being pregnant and feeling the baby move around in her belly.
"Hey Alex, come here!" Mer called to Alex from down the hallway. "I need your help."
"Whats up?"
"I'm planning a baby shower for you guys, but I dont know if Jo will want all the streamers
and games and crap."
"What? You don't plan baby showers."
"Correction, I haven't planned a baby shower. But I'm doing my best "supportive friend" act, and it's you and Jo, so tell me, does she want all the crap?"
"Yeah, I guess. Whatever."
"Jeez, way to suck the fun out of it. Well, it will be in a week, because I need time to plan." Mer said. "Oh, and don't tell Jo."
Meredith spent all of her free time for the rest of the week buying stuff for the party and worrying about every last detail. It had to be perfect.
Alex Karev, evil spawn, actually grew the hell up, got married, and is about to become a dad. And Meredith never thought that the incompetent intern that she loved to torture would become one of her closest friends and an amazing general surgeon.
If they can do all that, she can plan a stupid little party. That's what she told herself when she was up at 3 in the morning trying to organize party favors or making invitations.
The day of the shower, she was freaking out and putting the final touches on the party room, which was covered in pink balloons, streamers, and other decorations. She had set up a few tables with onesie decorating and scrapbooking and food.
As she was arranging the drinks on the table, Deluca walked into the room.
"Andrew, do you have the cupcakes?
"Yes, right here." he says, giving her a kiss and putting them down.
"No, not there. The table in the corner." She said, pointing to the area she wanted him to put them.
After everything was set up, nurses and doctors and all of Jo and Alex's friends filed in, and Meredith was finally satisfied with how everything was coming together.
She texted Alex, giving the signal to bring Jo in, and a moment later, the couple walked hand in hand into the decked out attending's lounge.
"Oh my god! Who did this?" She smiled, with Alex's arm around her.
"That would be Meredith,"Alex said.
"I just wanted to do something special for the new mom and dad to be." Meredith said, laughing.
Jo started crying out of nowhere.
"Thank you so much, Mer! I'm sorry, it's the hormones." she said, and everyone laughed.
Jo looked around, and all of her friends were there. Amelia, Maggie, Owen, Jackson, Andrew, Link, Carina, the interns, and a bunch of nurses from the floor. It meant a lot to the couple that everyone took time,out of their busy days to celebrate the baby. They didn't exactly get to tell their friends the way they wanted to, so it was nice to have everyone congratulating them.
Their close friends brought gifts for the baby, and Jo sat on the couch to open them one by one.
"Open mine!" Amelia said, shoving a big bag reading "It's a girl!" Into Jo's face. "It's from me and Link."
She pulled out the tissue paper to reveal a few different tiny outfits, one of them being a onesie that said, "My hero wears scrubs, and I call her mommy."
"Awww, it's so cute! Thanks, guys!" Jo said, putting it to the side with the other gifts they received.
Jo could barely believe how someone so tiny could need so many things: diapers, onesies, bottles, toys, pacifiers, bedding- Jo was sure they wouldn't need anything else. She was very wrong about that. Even though she was still learning, the more she looked around, the more she realized that she, Alex and their baby had a whole damn village ready to help and be a part of their lives.