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Alex was lying in bed as he tried to fall asleep. It was one of those nights when sleep evaded him a little bit more than it usually did. He had a major surgery tomorrow on a little kid and he was doing it with Hayes as it required both their set of expert hands. He was confident that he could do it, but worried something would go wrong. Still, he knew he had already spent hours going over it and now it was time for sleep.
He tried to think about something else and his mind wandered to his favorite thing, Jo. Alex rolled over to her as she was currently sleeping on her side and curled up, facing away from him. He pressed himself against her back and reached over to put one hand on her swollen belly, running his hand up and down the curve of her belly. Their baby girl gave him a quick kick like they always did and Alex continued to rub up and down in a soothing motion. They soon quieted down and fell asleep like their mama.
Closing his eyes, he nuzzled his nose against Jo’s hair, breathing in her familiar and calming scent. He easily found himself beginning to drift. His mind wandered to the day he first met her in the ambulance bay at the hospital. He piled on the scut and she hated him for it, but at the time, it wasn't personal. With Robbins still on medical leave, he needed someone to help him run the ped’s floor, and surgical scut was what surgical interns were for.
But there was a moment at the end of the day when Jo got overwhelmed and cried at the nurse’s station. It made him realize that he had been too hard on her and let her scrub in on a surgery with him. Their relationship had been up and down after that and she hated him for a long time, until Ben and Bailey's wedding. Alex thought about how she fake cried to him at the bar and got three surgeries out of him that time. Then she taught him how to fake cry too and they stole a hotel room together. That was when he started to fall for her, although he didn't realize it at the time.
Now that she was pregnant, the tears came quite often. Just this morning, she cried when they were out of cream cheese for her bagel. Jo had never been one for tears and now that he thought about it, the only times that she had cried at the hospital was when she was fake crying or during her depressive episode. Alex thought back again to the day they first met and how she had cried.
‘Hold up!’ He thought as his eyes flew open and he stared at the back of Jo's head. Those were real tears, right? Alex sat up as he looked over at her. He moved his hand from her belly to her shoulder and rubbed up and down, trying to wake her up, but she was a deep sleeper and he ended up giving her a quick poke.
“Stop,” Jo said, clearly annoyed as she rolled over to lay on her back, all though she didn't even bother to open her eyes. “It’s late, Alex. We’ve already gone over your big surgery tomorrow and you've given me three orgasms. It's time to sleep!”
“Since when do you complain about me waking you up for an orgasm?” Alex said with a smirk, getting sidetracked for a moment.
“I'm six months pregnant Alex. The result of your orgasm already keeps me up at night,” Jo said with a groan as she rolled back over, clearly not up for extra fun.
“No, wait, it's not that,” Alex said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “When we first met, the first day you were on my service, at the end of the day, we are going over charts and you started crying. Were those fake tears? Did you fake cry to try and get me to take it easy and so you could get in on surgery or something?”
“Alex, did you really think that I would cry in front of my boss on my first week?” Jo said as she rolled back over and now opened her eyes to smirk up at him.
“Seriously, those were fake tears?” Alex asked, still not quite believing it as he thought back to the memory, they seemed so real.
“Yes!” Jo said with a little giggle, clearly enjoying this.
“I feel manipulated,” Alex said as he curled his lip and groaned, although he was playing with her just a little.
“It was years ago, Alex and you were being a jerk!” Jo said, defending her actions although she still laughed.
Alex just laid back and crossed his arms. “But still, it was dirty and underhanded.”
Jo giggled again, but she rolled over and cuddled up next to him. She put her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest as she pressed up against him as much as she could with the baby between them. “Yeah, but you're nice to me now, and I only did it like twice.”
“I still don't like it,” Alex said, refusing to look at her and instead staring up at the ceiling. He was pouting just a little, but he couldn't believe that he had been tricked by a pretty, young intern with a few fake tears.
“I’m sorry,” Jo lamented as she pouted and looked up at him with big puppy dog eyes before her little lips started quivering, and a few fake tears sprung up in her eyes.
“Oh please, you think I can't tell the difference between your real tears and your fake tears,” Alex said, stealing a glance at her, although he had to admit it was pretty convincing.
Jo didn't say anything, but she looked away from him and let her tears fall. She hid her nose in his shirt and reached up to wipe away the tears she had let fall. On top of that, she let out a little whimper. He had to admit she was quite the actress.
“Okay, princess, you’ve made your point,” Alex said, dropping his grumpy look as he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed up and down her back.
Yet, Jo only seemed to kick it up a notch as she started fully sobbing. She covered her face with a hand as her tears started to really fall and he could feel them damp in his shirt. This made Alex panic, he didn't know if it was a combination of the hormones or if she was just tired, but he knew he had messed up. He quickly pulled her in as close as he could and rubbed his hand up and down her back as he leaned in to kiss her forehead.
“Okay, okay, all is forgiven. Babe, please, I’m sorry, I was just teasing you,” Alex said as he pressed his lips to her forehead again.
Like flipping off a switch, Jo instantly stopped sobbing. She quickly wiped her eyes before she smiled and cuddled up next to him. “I know. I was teasing you too.”
“Oh my God,” Alex said as he rolled his eyes, although he let out a breath of relief. “Please never teach our daughters to do that.”
“I can't be held responsible for what traits Luna and the baby pick up from me,” Jo said with a smile as she closed her eyes again.
Alex sighed, he could barely handle it when Jo cried, but the second that Luna looked up at him and her big blue eyes filled with tears, it was all over. His heart physically ached when he saw tears spring up in her eyes. Luna was almost two and the tantrums were in full swing. Although he and Jo did their best to hold out on the bigger things, Alex was having such a hard time not giving in to her when she asked for the little things like wanting a toy at the grocery store. He couldn't help it. He wanted to spoil her just a little bit, and it made her so happy.
He just groaned as he stared at the ceiling, wondering how he was gonna survive in this house. As if right on cue, he heard the door handle wiggle before Luna waltzed into the room. She had recently learned how to crawl out of her crib and open doors. He was supposed to have put together the toddler bed and baby-proof all the door handles that evening. However, he had gotten sidetracked when Luna pulled him away and insisted he play outside with her on the swings.
“It’s your turn,” Jo said, rolling away from him.
He sighed and got up just as Luna tried to crawl into bed with them. Her tiny little hands grabbed ahold of the blankets as she swung up her foot and crawled onto the bed. She sat there, looking way too cute and innocent as she held onto her little blue and white star blanket.
Alex couldn't help but smile at her as he picked her up before getting up to take her back to her bed. “Sorry, Luna, you have to sleep in your own bed tonight.”
It was one of the things that they had been working on with her lately and Luna hated it. He couldn’t blame her, sleeping in Mommy's and Daddy's bed was always much more fun than sleeping in your own. Luna looked up at him with her big blue eyes and he could already see it coming as she immediately started to cry.
Alex let out a groan as he paused and looked over at his wife. “I'm blaming you for this.”
Jo just chuckled as she looked up at him, having turned back to face him. She pulled black the blanket before patting the bed next to her. He supposed one night wouldn’t hurt. Besides, it was far too late and he was far too tired to argue with his toddler. They both crawled back into bed and Luna snuggled up to her mom as Jo put an arm around her and kissed her head.
“Pushover,” Jo whispered to him with a light hearted smile.
“Manipulator,” Alex whispered back as he leaned down to press a kiss to Jo’s lips and then Luna’s forehead.
They all settled in together and Alex reached out to put his arm over Luna and Jo. He held onto her hip and rubbed his thumb over her belly as their baby kicked. As if not to be left out, Reeses hopped up on the bed too. Although, he could have sworn he locked the crate. At this point though, he didn't even complain as the black lab circled around before settling at the end of their bed and using his feet as a pillow. Alex just sighed again, although he smiled as he closed his eyes and before he knew it, they were all asleep.