Alex liked Kansas. The horses, the chickens. His two kids. God were those kids cute. Eli and Alexis were two little rascals and he loved them. His little babies. Alex loved watching them play around with their two dogs and play Sleepover. He liked making dinner for them and they liked his dinner. There was one horse, Henry, that Alex really liked to watch and groom. Collecting eggs for the chickens was more fun than he expected. It was nice. He liked it. He was doing okay.

Jo was doing good without Alex. She got the bed all to herself. Jo found herself spending more time with friends, drinking with Link or watching TV with Levi. She focused a lot on surgery. Almost always staring at mice and machines with Meredith, and she was making some big strides. Jo was proud of it. It was nice. She liked it. She was doing okay.

A shrill shriek came from the doorway as two little feet jumped on the bed. He didn't sleep very well nowadays. Alex groaned a little, but he liked having kids that wanted to come jump on his bed. He rolled over and was reminded. No. You love Izzie. You love Izzie. You love Izzie. This is fine. Alex looked at Eli's smile and he smiled back. "Hi guys! You want some breakfast?" They jumped excitedly and screamed. Izzie smiled at Alex and Alex gave an attempt. He roused out of bed and brushed his teeth and told the kids to brush their teeth. He made pancakes, fluffy ones from the box, and put the blueberries in the smiley face formation. Izzie came up behind him and hugged him, and he tensed up. He didn't move for a while and his hands shook.

Jo woke up in an on-call room at 3 in the morning. Her pager was beeping, and she shot up. She didn't sleep very well nowadays. Jo ran straight to her lab, where Meredith was waiting staring at Mouse B. Meredith waved her over. "Look, look." She stared at the little mouse. It was dead. Mouse B was flopped over, in the trail, dead as a doornail. "Why would you show me this? It's dead." Meredith didn't say anything for a second. "Because when something we have dies, us two can learn from it. Come back from it. Return stronger."

Alex sat on the porch and watched Eli slide down one of those tiny slides that are scalding hot and full of static. Izzie was next to him, and she put her hand on his. He pulled away. He wanted to check Facebook. Alex finally got it, because he wanted a place to share pictures of Alexis and Eli with Amber and his mom. He pulled out his phone and looked at the date. June 9th.

Jo thought about what Meredith said for a while. It made her think too much, about non-medicine things, which seemed to be something her brain was firmly against nowadays. Thinking too hard is a gateway to falling apart. Beer and The Bachelorette keep her from falling apart. So, she opened to her phone to organize a viewing party with Levi when she was met with the date. June 9th.