Always been you//Jolex

Chapter 15

"Alex, do you have her stuffy?" I say, throwing her other things into a bag.
"Right here." He says, tossing it to me from across the room.
"Did you sign the discharge papers?"
"Yeah. Did you ask Pierce to come clear her one last time?"
"Yeah, she's on her way down." I help Sadie change into a T-shirt and a pair of leggings that we bought her, and then I comb her hair back into a braid. "Alrighty, you ready to go home?"
"Yeah!" She replies.
Maggie enters the room at that moment, smiley and perky as usual.
"Hello, miss Sadie. Is someone going home today?" She says.
"Uh-huh! I'm going to my new house with my own room and a pool and a swing set and-" she's talking really fast and she starts to get out of breath, so I hand her some water.
"I heard! I'm gonna check on that heart of yours one last time, and then your gonna come back with Alex and Jo for checkups a few times a month. Okay?"
She nods and Maggie takes a listen to her heart and reviews the most recent labs before Alex lifts her into the wheelchair.
"Everything looks great! I'll see all of you soon, and you keep that heart healthy, okay sweetie?"
"Yes, Doctor Maggie."
"Congratulations!" She whispers to me and Alex on the way out.
"Okay, let's get this show on the road!" Alex says, unlocking the wheelchair and pushing her out the door. I walk shoulder to shoulder with him, her bag in hand.
All of our friends and the nurses line the hallway and cheer as we roll her towards the elevator, congratulating her on her recovery. Mer and her sisters, the interns, Link, Owen, Jackson- all there smiling and clapping for our little girl, after 23 days in the peds unit.
A quick 15 minute drive later, we pull up to the house and turn off the car. I get out and grab her bag, opening her door and unbuckling her booster seat. I grab one of her hands and Alex grabs the other, unlocking the door with his free hand. We walk inside the house and I set her bag down and take off my shoes and she copies. She looks around with wide eyes, taking in her new life.
"How about we show you around?" I say.
"Okay."
We walk through the layout of the house, showing her everything from the layout of the house to where we keep all of the remotes and blankets in the living room, and pointing out all of the snacks we bought in the kitchen. We show her the bathrooms and the shampoos and conditioners we bought her to wash with, and our bedroom.
"This whole room is for me?" She says when we reach her bedroom. "I've never had my own bedroom before."
"I know! It's all for you. We got some clothes and toys we hope you'll like, but when your a little bit better we can all take a trip to the mall to pick out some new things for when school starts in September." Alex adds.
Staring at the loaded shelves and chests of books and board games and art supplies and dolls and sports gear, I wonder if we over did it.
Nope.
"How about we go out for ice cream tonight? There's this new place we found that makes their own waffle cones, which is my favorite."
She smiles and nods.
"Okay, but we have to have dinner first. How about we grill some hamburgers and hotdogs on the patio? We can have macaroni and cheese and baked beans like a barbecue." Alex says.
"And lemonade?" She asks, hopeful.
"Sure, why not?" Alex says, heading downstairs to start.
"I'm gonna help Alex with dinner. Do you want to come outside and play while we cook?"
She nods and grabs a thick book off the shelf, and I slowly help her down the stairs and to the patio, where he is getting ready to grill.
As Alex and I chat over the smoking grill, Sadie sits on a swing and gently rocks back and fourth while reading the book she took, something about cellular structures and functions that they were getting rid of at the hospital.
While Paul was an awful person, he was a brilliant surgeon, and as the biological daughter of 2 doctors, Sadie was bound to be a little genius. And now that she'll be raised by Alex and I, I think it's safe to say she's going to be an extraordinary surgeon herself.
Once everything is ready, we sit down at the outdoor table to eat. It's mid July, and the sun is still blazing at 6:00. We tell Sadie to help herself to as much as she likes, but we know it's gonna take some time until she really feels at home.
"So, Sadie." Alex starts. "Once Jo and I adopt you, we want to know if you wanna keep your last name as Wilson or change it to Karev to match us. We want you to choose whatever name makes you feel comfortable."
She looks dazed for a moment and takes a bit of her hotdog.
"Wilson was my name before we got married." I say, in case she wanted some context.
"Is that my biological dads name?"
Oh dear god. I knew she was gonna ask at some point, but her mention of Paul nearly makes me choke on my dinner. I also feel awful reminding Alex that she isn't her "real" father, although he's more of a father than Paul could have ever been. Alex looks to me to give her an answer, and I realize I've been sitting in silence for a good minute. How exactly do I say "Your dad never knew you existed because he might have killed us both. And also, he's dead now." Shit. Shit. Shit.
"No, your biological dad...he wasn't a very nice person. I didn't have the same last name as him. Lucky for us, though, this man right here is the best husband and most amazing dad on the planet." I say, giving Alex a quick kiss.
"So where is he now?" She asks.
"He got into an accident a couple months ago and, um...died."
"Oh." She pauses awkwardly and takes a bite of Mac and cheese. "Well, if you guys are gonna be my family, I guess I would like to be Karev. Sadie Brooke Karev." She declares proudly.
"I didn't know you gave her the name Brooke." Alex whispers.
"When I was Brooke, I was strong, I was a survivor. That's what the name meant to me. I knew she was gonna need a little bit of that strength to get by." I whisper back.
"I love it."
We clean up from dinner and take her out to get ice cream, and let her get 3 different flavors. She ends up with birthday cake, mint chocolate chip and some kind of caramel swirl. Probably not my first choice of flavor combinations, but she loved it. We let her go crazy with toppings too: sprinkles, whipped cream, a cherry, fudge, m&ms, crushed Oreos- she is 100% my daughter.
We get home and I pull out a pair of pajamas for her, which she changes into and climbs onto her bed. I climb in beside her and wrap my arm around her, and Alex sits at the foot of the bed. Tucking her in brings back the memory that I missed 7 years worth of bedtimes, I suddenly start to cry.
"Jo-"
"Whats wrong?"
I squeeze her tight to my chest and smile.
"Nothing. You are the most perfect little girl in the world. I'm so lucky that you're ours. I love you, and nothing will ever change that, okay?"
I sit up and smooth her blankets and Alex and I each give her a kiss on the forehead. I turn out the light and her nightlight flicks on, and I watch as she closes her eyes.
"You okay, Jo?" Alex asks, startling me.
"Yeah. I was just... thinking about all the bedtimes and dance recitals and barbecues we both lost out on because I didn't stick around for her."
I lean my head on Alex's shoulder and we watch out girl sleep from the doorway, making sure she's still alive.
"We're parents now." Alex's says. "When did that happen?"