Never Alone//Merder

Nobody Taught Us To Quit

The next few months flew by fast. Meredith didn't have a chance to recover from Morgan's birthday sleepover when Alex and Jo recruited her to help them plan their wedding. Meredith wanted to decline, but Alex was her friend. He helped her raise Morgan and it was time for her to return the favor. Derek thought she was crazy since they had a lot on their plates already, but she assured him she would be able to handle it.

While Meredith helped Alex and Jo, Amy helped Lexie with planning Ben's birthday party. Lexie's standards were high, but she was happy with the final results. So was Mark. As for the party itself, it went well as expected. Little Ben didn't know what all the excitement was about, but he enjoyed the cupcake that was put out in front of him. He made such a mess that his mother had to clean him up and change his outfit before he could open his birthday presents.

Derek and Meredith wanted to leave C.J. and the babies at home with a baby-sitter, but both Mark and Lexie insisted on having all of their nieces and nephews there. After some advice from the therapists, Derek and Meredith agreed to bring the whole brood. They took some precautionary measures. They warned him ahead of time about the party and how there would be a lot of noise and excitement. If he felt like he couldn't handle it, all he had to do was whisper the secret word to his parents and they would take him out of the room.

To Derek's and Meredith's relief, the plan worked out perfectly. Since C.J. was prepared, he wasn't overwhelmed by the amount of party guests who had already arrived. He was able to play with his sisters nicely, but the party later did become too much for him. Derek brought him in another room where he could relax without worrying about the noise. After several minutes, he tried to encourage him to return to the party, but C.J. didn't want to go back. Derek knew it was time for him to take his son home.

When it came to Katie's birthday, she wanted to have an 'American Girl' party. Once again, Amy took charge and planned the entire birthday party. The only help she needed was volunteers to help supervise the party. Unlike Morgan, Katie wanted to have a few more friends than just the couple she had invited to her party. To everyone's surprise, Owen stepped up and volunteered to supervise the birthday girl and her guests.

After that day was over, they got ready for the next big event. Meredith was relieved there wasn't going to be a party for this event. All she had to do was show up at the school gym and take pictures of the two kindergarten graduates. She was glad she was able to get time off from the clinic. This was too important to her not to see her little girl graduate, even if it was just from kindergarten.

"I can't believe our girls are graduating kindergarten today," Derek said.

Meredith nodded. "I know. In a couple of months, they'll be in first grade when they will really be learning things. I just hope they'll be in the same class. Otherwise, Morgan will have to make new friends all over again. She isn't as brave as Katie when it comes to walking up to the other kids and asking them to play with her."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Derek told her. "Now do you have your camera?"

"Who needs cameras when we have our phones?" Meredith pointed out as she grabbed her purse.

Derek couldn't argue with her there. "We never did get a final head count of how many people were coming. I know Amy is coming. Lexie is bringing Ben and Addison is going to try and make it, but that's it. Are any of your friends coming?"

"I told them they were invited, but it wasn't mandatory," Meredith replied. "So we'll just have to wait and see who shows up. Speaking of showing up, where is the babysitter?" she asked as she looked at the time. "If we don't leave soon, we're going to be late. This is what we get for hiring another babysitter other than April."