Nowhere, Kansas

Part VI - The End

"You were born on a hot late summer day

We turned you loose and tried to stay out of your way.

Don't quite recognize the world you call home

Just find what makes you happy, girl, and do it 'til you're gone.

I hope you find something to love

Something to do when you feel like giving up.

A song to sing or a tale to tell

Something to love, it'll serve you well."

* * *

"Legos!" Izzie fumes. "I swear to God we have more every day!"

"Iz."

"They multiply in the bins, I know they do." Izzie crouches down in front of their entertainment center, balancing a huge Tupperware bin on her knees as she reaches into the crevices behind the tv and sweeps out at least thirty brightly-colored bricks. "Legos, Alex!"

"Izzie."

"What time is it now?" She squints at her watch and lets out a low groan. "Ugh, I still need to shower!" She glances over her shoulder at Alex. "I'm almost done in here – can you go find the box with the blue-patterned china? The one your mom brought over, the one she said belonged to the aunt you said you don't remember? I asked Leta to find them and wash them but she said she couldn't find the box."

"Babe—"

She pushes up to her feet and swings towards the kitchen, depositing the box of Legos neatly on a shelf in the kids's playroom. She calls back to her husband, "It's the pale green one, you know, in that back corner of—"

"Dr. Model, will you just sit still for ten seconds?!"

That gets her. A laugh bursts out of her, distracting her from her single-minded tornado of organization, just long enough for Alex to cross the room and wrap his arms around her waist.

"Dr. Model? Seriously?"

"Would you prefer Dr. Mrs. Evil Spawn?"

He kisses her as she laughs again, and he can feel her body relax against his.

"You're nervous about meeting the surrogate," he says when they draw apart.

"Potential surrogate. And I'm not."

He gently spins her around, pointing past her to various spots of the house. "You polished the picture frames. I've never seen you do that before – and you did the one with the twins' baby pictures in it twice. You threatened to rip out the carpet in the living room when you couldn't get that jelly stain in the corner out. And there are..." He pretends to count "...six dozen cookies on the counter right now – a counter which I found you wiping down at 4 this morning when I came home after getting off call."

His wife slumps back against him, dropping her head back to rest on his shoulder. "I'm – yeah. I'm nervous." She turns and rests her forehead against Alex's cheek. "What if she doesn't like us?"

Alex snorts. "As if. I'm very charming."

"What if I don't like her?"

"Then we'll pick someone else."

"What if—"

"Iz." He steers her down the hall towards their bedroom. When they arrive, he grabs the hem of the ratty U-Dub t-shirt she's been wearing while she cleans and pulls it over her head.