Always been you//Jolex

Chapter 22

"I can't feel it."
"No, up here." I say, moving Alex's hand to the spot where the baby is kicking.
It's around 10:00 in the morning, and Alex and I are still in bed, Sadie wedged in between us and snuggled against Alex.
Jackson is having a party at his place for Harriet's 3rd birthday, and a bunch of our friends are coming from out of town.
"Alright, Sade. It's time to get dressed and fix up that beautiful hair of yours for the party, since we have to stop and get a present the way. Sound good, sunshine?" I ask in my best cheerful, motherly voice.
She pops up and runs off to her room to put on her dress, and I put on my own. It's a summery, flowy maternity dress that shows off my bump perfectly, something I couldn't do the first go around with Sadie.
As I go into the bathroom to do my hair and makeup, Alex shouts something from the other end of our room, looking through the closet.
"Does Avery want us to bring anything?" He asks.
"Uh... don't think so. He said no gifts, but I was gonna stop and get her a little toy or whatever. We have to bring something, right?"
"Hey, who's coming to this thing anyway?" He replies, totally ignoring my question.
"Just our friends from the hospital and all their kids. Oh, and April, obviously. I think Arizona and Callie are bringing Sofia."
At this, he immediately gets a guilty look on his face. I know him too well to not know exactly what he's thinking at all times.
"Alex, did you tell Arizona about the baby?"
"Uhhh..."
"How could you not tell her! She's gonna be pissed."
"I haven't talked to her since the wedding."
"Really? So she doesn't know about Sadie either? She's gonna be in for quite the surprise today."
I finish my look and go in to help Sadie get ready, and we're in the car by 11:00.
We stop at a near by toy store and look around for something that a 3 year old girl would like. I have no clue, and apparently Alex doesn't either.
We end up picking some sort of toy makeup vanity that the owner suggested. They wrap it for us and we're back in the car another 30 minutes later, finally getting to Jackson's right on time. He greets us at the door holding Harriet, who's wearing a frilly dress and a matching bow.
Seeing her makes me so excited to meet my little girl and dress her in cute little clothes and watch her grow up.
We say hello and give him the present, and as we go inside,  Sadie rushes to play with the other kids. The first thing I do is sit down besides Meredith with my hands on my belly, resting my feet.
"Hey! How are you doing growing my goddaughter in there?" Mer says, laughing.
We asked her to be the baby's legal guardian if anything happened to us, and she was more than happy to be an auntie and godmother.
It's already in our will that she gets both the girls if something happens, because the last thing Sadie should ever have to go through is being thrown back into the foster system.
As we talk about the pregnancy and work and stuff, I spot Alex holding the birthday girl and talking to Jackson across the room. There's a lot of people here, and it's pretty loud and chaotic, so I barely notice when the door opens and Arizona comes in with Sofia, who, like Sadie, rushes to greet her friends. I have no doubt that Sadie and Sofia will get along just fine.
Across the room, Alex is having his own conversation with Az.
"Hey, guys! Whatcha been up to?"
"Not much." Alex replies. "How's New York?"
"It's great! Herman and I opened this amazing clinic for women's health, and Callie and I are back together! She got stuck with a patient this weekend. She really wanted to come, though." She says, looking apologetic towards Jackson. She turns her attention to Harriet, taking her from Alex.
"She really likes you, Karev. You and Jo better work on getting one of these." She laughs.
"Actually," Alex waves me over, and I say bye to Meredith and haul myself across the crowded room of people. "Jo is pregnant. We're having a little girl in about 3 months."
"Oh my god!" She says, her hand flying to her mouth. "Congratulations! I can't believe your gonna be a daddy! Aw, your babies are gonna be so dirty mouthed and cute! How far along are you?" She asks, all in one breath.
"I'm 24 weeks. 25 on Tuesday." I say, rubbing my belly.
"I wish you would've told me! I could've done Jo's ultrasound!" She says.
"You live on the other side of the country." He grins. "And besides, they're both healthy. We,! don't need a fetal surgeon, so our OB is just fine. I wanted to tell you, we've just been really...busy."
"Busy?" She says sarcastically , as if that isn't nearly enough to excuse the delayed announcement.
April interrupts, coming over to give Arizona a hug and offer her a drink. Then, she looks up at me.
"Jo, you're having a baby!" She shouts, giving me a hug.
"Yeah, I noticed!" I say, and we both laugh.
Just then, Sadie runs up to me and Alex.
"Daddy! Can I have a juice box?" She asks.
"Daddy?" Arizona says quietly.
"Sure, Sade." He replies, lifting her into his arms. "But first, I want you to meet me and mommy's friends, Arizona, April and you remember Jackson. Guys, this is our daughter, Sadie."
Arizona and April look equally confused, but Jackson already knows about Sadie and has met her several times.
"Baby, the juice is on the table near where Maggie is standing. Ask her nicely to help you." I say, motioning to the beverages.
"We adopted Sadie a few months ago. She came to us as a heart transplant patient, and, um... well, she's my biological daughter. Mine and Paul's. I gave her up before I moved to Seattle." I start to tear up thinking of everything, and Alex wraps his arm around me and gives me a soft kiss on the cheek.
April's eyes widen at the new information, and Arizona seems unfazed, as if, after everything that's happened in the last few minutes, nothing could possibly surprise her.
"Maggie's transplant was flawless, and she became a part of our family. And it was the best thing that ever happened to us." Alex adds.
"That's great you guys. I'm really happy for you." April says, smiling and tilting her head slightly.
"It looks like the girls are really hitting it off over there." Arizona says, looking over to see Sofia, Zola and Sadie all shouting and laughing together.
"You want something to drink, babe?" Alex asks, putting his arm around my waist.
"Actually, I'm starving. Can you grab me one of things?" I say, pointing to some fancy looking food that I don't know the name of.
"Yeah." He says, walking away.
"So, how's mommy life?" Arizona asks.
"God, I'm just like, exhausted all the time. It's like, I have no idea how to raise a kid but I'm about to have two of them, so I'm kind of freaking out. But Alex is amazing." I say, smiling and glancing over at him, on the ground tickling Sadie. Sadie is laughing, but suddenly bursts into a coughing fit. I rush over to her and squat to their level.
"Sadie, it's okay. Deep breaths." Alex says. All eyes turn to us, but I barely notice.
"It... hurts to... breathe..." she says, struggling to catch her breath.
Maggie is already on the ground beside us. A few people get up to make room, and Alex sets her down on the couch. I sit beside her and lift her onto my lap, holding her.
"Sadie, can you describe what it feels like, sweetie?" Maggie asks.
She opens her mouth to answer, but then goes limp in my arms.