"No, those are for the guests," Amelia snapped as Alex and Jo grabbed handfuls of the food off the tray she was carrying.
"Yeah, we came early to eat the best part," Alex said.
"Hey, where's Maggie? She was supposed to be here with the ice and people are already showing up," Meredith said, joining them in the kitchen.
"Maggie got held up at work. She said she's on her way," Erin rolled her eyes.
"Uh, the dryer finished a little bit early, but the tablecloth's still damp," Steph said, holding it up for Erin and Amelia to see.
"It's fine. Just put it on the table. It's fine," Amelia waved her hand.
"Okay," Steph nodded.
"Oh, is that Jackson?" April perked up as a car pulled up outside.
"No, it's Callie," Arizona said.
"Oh, God. I didn't know her new girlfriend was a redhead," April said.
"Ah! I'm meeting my best friend's girlfriend!" Arizona squealed.
"You'll wake up the kids," Erin laughed. "I just got the twins down," she said.
"Can't help it, too excited," Arizona grinned. The doorbell rang at the same time a cry came over the monitor.
"I'll get the door," Meredith said.
"And I will get the child," Erin sighed.
She jogged after Meredith, running up the stairs into her room to find Jasmine crying, Natalie just waking up from the sound.
"It's okay, girls. Mommy's just being noisy," Erin cooed, picking Jasmine up and rocking her against her chest. Natalie let out a cry and Erin sighed, picking her up, too. "It's okay, girls. Mama's here," Erin whispered.
The twins settled after five minutes, so she tried to lie them back down. Jasmine went down fine but Natalie let out an angry cry, grabbing onto Erin's hair tight enough to make her whine.
"Okay, not going down. We'll stay up here until you do," Erin sighed, sitting on the bed with Natalie. "You're not hungry, because I fed you twenty minutes ago. You need changing?" Erin said, feeling her diaper. "Nope," she sighed. "Wind, maybe?" she guessed, rubbing Natalie's back.
She didn't burp so Erin sighed and stood back up. She tried to lie Natalie in her crib but she just cried, pulling Erin's hair again.
"You know what? You're coming down with me. Everyone can deal with a cute baby until they tire you out enough to put you to sleep," Erin said.
She headed downstairs, passing Maggie at the door as she raced up to the toilet.
"Hi, Nat," Maggie yelped, almost falling onto her face.
"Weirdo," Erin rolled her eyes, carrying Nat into the kitchen.
"There's a baby in the kitchen," Alex grinned, putting his beer down to take Natalie.
"Natalie doesn't want to sleep. So, she's coming to the party until she goes down," Erin said.
"C'mon, kid. I'll introduce you to everyone," Alex said.
Erin's monitor vibrated against her hip and she pulled it out to see Jasmine was now crying.
"Can't be away from each other, these two," Erin muttered, jogging back upstairs to get the baby.
She rocked Jasmine against her chest in the hallway, watching as Maggie ran into the bathroom in Meredith's room.
"Maggie? Are you peeing again?" Erin asked, following her. She frowned when she saw Maggie sitting on the toilet with Meredith sat on the floor. "What's going on?" she asked.
"God, I think I'm being punished for having sex. Amazing, regrettable, but admittedly very hot sex with an intern. And if we've learned anything from Slasher movies, it's that people who have sex get tortured and punished and raging UTIs!" Maggie cried as the door opened again and Amelia stepped in.
"Oh, God! Why aren't you cooking?! You're supposed to be cooking!" Amelia cried.
"I am being tortured. I have a UTI," Maggie cried.
"Well, get some Pyridium and get back in the game!" Amelia said. Jasmine let out another cry and Erin sighed, bouncing her up and down.
"I'm going to the hospital," Maggie said.
"What?! No, you can't," Amelia groaned. "It's a UTI! Woman up!" she said.
"A UTI and what else? I don't know this guy. I keep a very clean house down there, and right now, my house is on fire. God knows where he's been! He looks like he gets a lot of sex... a lot! With whom? Skanks, perhaps? I mean, statistically, there was probably a skank or two in there. He could've brought anything into my house. God, I feel toxic. I need... I need to go to the hospital. I need a battery of tests and a silkwood shower. No, I-I-I just... I want to feel clean," Maggie said, washing her hands.
"Think like a chef. You have to cook! We have guests!" Amelia said.
"No one wants me touching their food," Maggie said seriously, setting off out of the bathroom.
"We have a house full of starving surgeons! You can't just leave," Amelia shouted, running after her.
"Watch me," Maggie said.
"Maggie!" Amelia groaned.
"Amelia, what if it's an STD?" Maggie cried. Erin looked down at Meredith.
"Okay, what's your problem?" Erin said.
"Problem? I don't have a problem," Meredith said, voice high.
"Yeah, you do. It's called a resting bitch face," Erin said. She closed the bathroom door and sat on the floor opposite Meredith.
"Spill," she said.
"Callie's girlfriend, Penny. Have you met her yet?" she asked.
"No," Erin shook her head. "I've been juggling babies," Erin said.
"She was there," Meredith said.
"There where?" Erin asked.
"At Dillard. She was his doctor," Meredith said. Erin's mouth dropped open slightly.
"She was..." Erin trailed off.
"Yeah," Meredith nodded once.
"Okay, she's got to go. I'm gonna, uh, make up some emergency and everyone can go. Okay, what emergency? Or can I just drag her out by her hair? Did she recognise you? Should I just ask her to leave directly?" Erin said.
"No, it's fine. Callie's happy. Leave them," Meredith said.
"She's in our house!" Erin whispered. "You clearly don't want her here. Let me get rid of her," Erin said.
"It's fine," Meredith shook her head. Jasmine opened her mouth and vomited down Erin's shirt. Erin looked down slowly.
"What the fuck, Jasmine?" she said. Meredith chuckled and stood up, pulling Erin with her.
"Go and change," she said.
"I am done with babies," Erin muttered, walking down the hallway to her room.
Jasmine cried the entire time Erin lay her down, but she was quick grabbing a new shirt and pulling it on with her jeans. She brushed her hair, sprayed perfume and then changed Jasmine into a new onesie before carrying her downstairs.
"Oh, baby Grey! Come and meet Penny!" Callie's voice came from the living room.
"Let me just grab a drink," Erin said, quickly hurrying into the kitchen where April was now cooking with Arizona's help, while Amelia carried Natalie around the room with Stephanie.
"Hi, baby. Are you being a terror?" Arizona giggled, kissing Jasmine's forehead.
"Yes," Erin nodded. "She threw up on me, so I'm drinking," Erin said.
"Good plan!" Arizona cheered, handing Erin a margarita already made up.
"How many have you had?" Erin raised her eyebrows.
"Two," Arizona said.
"Four," April rolled her eyes. "She's almost taking eyes out with knives," she said.
"Don't stab anyone, stabby Joe," Erin laughed, kissing Arizona as she took the margarita. She sighed and turned, carrying Jasmine over to Callie and Penny.
"Penny, this is Erin Grey, Meredith's little sister. Erin, this is Penelope Blake," Callie said.
"Nice to meet you," Penny smiled awkwardly.
"I'd shake but," Erin bumped her hip with Jasmine on, showing her hands were full.
"This is Natalie's twin sister, Jasmine," Callie smiled, tickling Jasmine's leg.
"Well, she's being a little bit of a grump tonight. Where is Nat?" Erin said, faking concern as she looked around, even though she already knew where her daughter was.
"Oh, she's with Amelia and Steph," Callie said.
"I should go and get her. Nice to meet you," Erin said, walking over to Natalie, Amelia and Steph.
"Hello, Jas," Amelia cooed, kissing Jasmine's cheek. "You okay? You weren't wearing that shirt before," she said.
"Your darling goddaughter vomited on me. So, you know, she and her sister need to go to bed, but they won't go down," Erin said.
"I'll put them down. They can't say no to their auntie Amelia," Amelia smiled. "Edwards, take Jasmine and follow me," Amelia said.
"Okay," Steph said.
"Thank you," Erin sighed, handing Jasmine over to Steph. They headed upstairs and Erin headed into the kitchen.
"You are sitting with me. Everyone here has heard all my jokes," Amelia pulled Penny to sit beside her at the table, between her and Meredith. Erin sat on the other side of her, Arizona sitting beside her.
"Everything okay?" Arizona whispered.
"Yeah," Erin whispered back, squeezing her hand.
"Kepner, this looks amazing," Bailey said, sitting at the table with them.
"Please, dig in before it gets cold," April said.
"Uh, where's Torres?" Jackson asked.
"She's at the hospital," Alex said.
"What, she just left you here by yourself? I would kill you," Jo said.
"She said she'll be right back. Although, we all know how night calls go. I might be asking one of you for a ride home," Penny forced a smile. Erin rolled her eyes and looked at her plate.
"Yeah, well, she better get back soon, otherwise I'll take you home myself. Find a Penny, pick it up," Arizona joked. Everybody looked at her and Erin rolled her eyes again. "No? What, I'm... I'm being nice," she said. "I'm happily married, Penny, to Erin. We have four kids. I am joking, I promise," Arizona said, holding up Erin's hand with her rings on.
Erin rolled her eyes fondly.
"Dr. Robbins, you drunk," Bailey snorted. "Don't think I've ever seen that. I like drunk Robbins," Bailey laughed.
"So, Penny, I've been chained to the stove all night. What did you say you do?" April asked.
"I'm a doctor. A surgery resident, actually," Penny said, avoiding Meredith's eyes.
"Where do you work?" April asked.
"At the moment, uh, technically, I'm between gigs," Penny said.
"What does that mean?" Jackson asked.
"Well, uh, last year... the hospital where I was working was... closed down. And then, um, right before I met Calliope-" Penny said.
"Aww, Calliope. She's Archie's godmother, you know? It was supposed to be me, but I married Erin and adopted him so we made Callie his godmother instead," Arizona smiled.
"Arizona, please shut up," Erin whispered in her ear, noticing how tense Meredith looked.
"It's kind of like a joke with us 'cause my name's Penelope. Penelope, Calliope," Penny said.
"Penelope Blake!" Bailey said in realisation.
"Whoa, see who's drunk now?" Arizona rolled her eyes fondly.
"That's why I know your name. You're in my calendar. I have a meeting with you on Monday," Bailey said. Erin looked at Bailey sharply.
"Y-yes," Penny stuttered.
"Why?" Erin asked coldly.
"Well, she is a new resident transfer," Bailey said.
"What?" Meredith raised her eyebrows, Erin's shooting up, too.
"Well, yeah. She's joining the program at Grey-Sloan Memorial," Bailey nodded.
"Congratulations," everybody said.
"Oh, this is some bullshit," Erin breathed.
"Are you kidding? Is she kidding?" Meredith asked, looking from Bailey to Penny.
"I rematched... to Grey-Sloan Memorial," Penny said awkwardly.
"Where were you working before... the, um, place that closed?" Amelia asked.
"It was, uh... a smaller suburban center out by the sound," Penny said.
"She was at Dillard. Dillard Medical Center," Meredith said. Erin winced slightly.
Meredith was doing this, then.
"Dillard? Dillard? Isn't that, um..." Jackson trailed off.
"That's where Derek died. Isn't that right, Penny?" Meredith looked at Penny.
"That's... That's right," Penny said quietly.
"Perfect Penny killed my husband," Meredith said flatly.
Erin kept her eyes levelled coldly on Penny, not even daring to look away because she knew that she would get even angrier by the looks on everybody else's faces, especially Amelia's and Meredith's.
"Kepner, the food is getting cold. Let's pass those peas," Meredith said. Nobody moved and Meredith sighed. "Excuse me," she said, getting up and walking upstairs.
"What? What did she say?" Amelia asked, tears in her eyes.
"I think what she meant... What sh... What she was trying to say..." Penny stuttered.
Erin stood up and pushed her chair back, heading into the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of tequila and headed to the stairs.
"Alex," she said.
"Coming," Alex stood up and followed Erin upstairs to go and see Meredith.
"So, what do you want to do? You want me to get her out of here, get everybody out?" Alex asked, taking the tequila from Erin and taking a sip.
"I don't know!" Meredith groaned, taking the bottle from Alex and swigging it.
They were camped out in Meredith's bedroom, the three of them on the bed drinking while Erin and Alex tried to figure out what to do.
The door swung open and Amelia stormed in, starting to pace before sitting on the ottoman beside Alex.
"I'm not gonna let them do this. It's not gonna happen. We will call a meeting of the board, and we'll have a vote, and we will fire that bitch! We'll... We're stopping this. We're gonna take care of this, right?" Amelia said. Meredith didn't answer. "Meredith? Why aren't you saying anything?" she said.
"Because I really... I really don't want to talk about this," Meredith shook her head.
"Yeah. Clearly. You knew who she was all night, and you never bothered telling me?" Amelia said, voice trembling.
"Amelia..." Meredith tried.
"She killed Derek! You invite her in here. Y-you let me sit there and talk to her all... I... well, I hugged her! Why?! W-why would you do that to me?" Amelia cried.
"I did this to you?" Meredith looked up sharply, eyes narrowed in anger.
"You should've told me. You should have. I thought that you and I-" Amelia said angrily.
"I did nothing to you. I lost my husband and the father of my children, and you're falling apart? I don't get to do that because I have three kids, so, please, shut up and get out of my room!" Meredith shouted, Owen opening the door at the end.
"Mer," Erin said quickly.
"Get her out of here before I kill her!" Meredith yelled.
"Owen, Amelia, go," Erin said. Owen grabbed Amelia by her shoulders and led her out of the room, closing the door behind them. Erin handed Meredith the tequila back. "Drink," she said.
Meredith sighed, taking a long drink from the bottle.
"You can go," Meredith looked between Erin and Alex an hour later. The three of them had moved to the floor and were now sharing the tequila there.
"What are you gonna do if we leave?" Alex and Erin said. Meredith sighed and drank more of the tequila.
"Now she's a person," Meredith groaned, passing the bottle to Erin. She took a drink and handed it to Alex. There was a knock on the door and they looked up. It opened and Arizona stepped in with a few more bottles of alcohol in her hands.
"Need more?" she said.
"Please," they chorused. She put them down, making to go back to the door.
"Sit," Meredith said.
"Okay," Arizona nodded, sitting on the floor. She lay her head against Erin's shoulder, opening the wine and taking a sip.
There was another knock on the door and they looked up, now seeing Callie.
"Hey," she said. Meredith just sighed. "You okay?" Callie asked.
"Yeah. Great," Meredith said, kicking the door shut.
"Sorry," Arizona mouthed as it closed, taking another swig of wine.
"She told me when Jas vomited on me," Erin said as she and Arizona got into bed.
"You could've told me. I would've gotten her out or made sure she stayed away from you guys," Arizona said.
"You were too drunk to stop making bad jokes at Penny's expense. And Mer wasn't telling anyone so I wasn't. I kept my mouth shut. And I didn't tell Amelia 'cause it wasn't my thing to tell, so she's probably mad at me, too," Erin mumbled, climbing into bed with her.
"I feel bad for Callie. She didn't know," Arizona sighed. "But then I am so pissed at Penny for what she did. And then I'm not pissed, because she's a resident and we fuck up when we're learning. But she should've left if she knew who Mer was. I don't know what to feel," Arizona muttered.
"Right now, I'm pretty much all hatred. Mer freaked out on Amelia, too, so that carpool is gonna be great on Monday," Erin winced.
"Oh, god. I take the kids. We can swap?" Arizona said.
"No, I'll go. You're already in a bad position, considering Callie is your best friend and I'm your wife," Erin said.
"I'm not in a bad position. Derek was your brother-in-law and when I married into the Grey family, he took me under his wing. He helped me learn all of the Grey faces and which ones to avoid and how to get you smiling when I pissed you off. It's kept me alive in our marriage so far and I'm not deferring from his teachings. I'm on your side, which is Meredith's side. I'm just kind of sympathetic to Callie's side, too, as her person," Arizona said.
"Derek was my brother. I mean, he walked my down the aisle. He was everything Mer needed and it's partly Penny's fault he's gone, but she made a mistake and we've all made mistakes, so I can't blame her for this. It's fine. It's not like she's gonna actually be around us at the hospital. As long as she stays away from me, I'll be fine. And she is not putting her hands on my kids. I don't care if Callie has them. She isn't touching them," Erin said.
"I'll tell Callie," Arizona yawned, lying her head in Erin's neck. "I've got your back, baby," Arizona mumbled.
"Thank you," Erin sighed, closing her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Arizona.
"So, uh... Deluca and I are basically not talking. Just like you two. Only different. Obviously," Maggie said to Meredith and Amelia in the carpool.
Erin was in the back with Amelia, checking her emails about results from the clinical trials using her chemo across the world.
"Yeah, I mean, we say hi, but, uh... There's no talking. I mean, after the amazing sex. Once you've had that, you would think it would be easier to have a conversation," Maggie said.
"You don't say," Erin hummed, clicking on another email.
"So... That woman starts today... the resident from Dillard. Do you want to talk about that? 'Cause you should," Maggie said.
Neither Meredith or Amelia replied. Maggie looked at Erin desperately but she was too busy reading her email.
"It doesn't burn when I pee anymore," she blurted.
"That's officially sixteen kids in remission," Erin said, locking her phone as she put it on her lap.
"From your trial?" Maggie said.
"Yeah. Seventeen, including Rosie. She was my individual trial. I sent all of the work over to Katie to continue as director of the project and I'm just a consultant now," Erin said.
"Why did you send it over?" Meredith broke the silence.
"So I can spend more time back in surgery and at home with the kids. Chemo isn't my area of expertise," Erin said.
"Good point," Meredith nodded once.
"I can't believe you're curing cancer," Maggie sighed, looking at Erin. "You're really making it hard to be the smart sister."
Erin snorted.
"Ha! You are the smart sister. I'm intelligent but I'm shit at everything else, like emotions and common sense. You've got most of your eggs in your basket, but this STD is bringing you down," Erin teased.
"It's a UTI!" Maggie cried.
"It burns when you pee," Erin laughed. "An intern set your house on fire!"
"Erin, stop!" Maggie whined, pushing Erin with a small grin as Erin's laugh made Amelia and Meredith cracked small smiles in the front.
"Haha!" Erin giggled, leaning back in her seat. "I'm the funny sister. Clearly."
"Clearly," Maggie said.
THE TINY HUMAN TRIO
Erin:
blake is on mer's service
Alex:
twenty bucks mer rips her a new one
Erin:
it's terrible to bet about this
you're on
Arizona:
You two are terrible... I'm in xx
"Since when do you pray?" Erin asked, carrying Natalie and Jasmine into the chapel.
"I'm not," Meredith said.
"Or talk to god or whatever," Erin said.
"I'm not talking to god," Meredith said.
"Well, you talk to Tequila," Erin said.
"I'm talking to Derek," Meredith said.
"Oh. Okay, I'll go," Erin said, turning towards the door.
"I'm trying. I tried to rise, I've tried to teach her, but I just..." Meredith took a deep breath. "Don't think I can. I thought he might know what I'm supposed to do with her, why she's here. I thought maybe he could tell me. So, I'm just gonna sit here and... Wait for some divine intervention or whatever," Meredith said.
"Right. And how's that going?" Erin said.
"I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing," Meredith admitted, looking at Erin with a small smile.
"You wanna hold babies while you think about it? I need to pee," Erin said awkwardly. Meredith rolled her eyes fondly but held her arms out. "Oh, I love you," she sighed, putting the twins on her lap and hurrying towards the door. "I'll be back and then I'll feed them away from you," Erin said.
"Okay," Meredith said.
"So, I'm just wondering if maybe we should rethink the resident-rotation system. I mean, make sure that our residents get an equal opportunity on every specialty," Callie said to Richard in the attending's lounge.
Erin was sat on the couch beside Maggie, feeding Natalie as she read about a new surgery in Japan. Amelia was sat opposite them on the armchair, Jasmine asleep on her lap.
"Isn't that happening?" Richard asked.
"Well, there's a danger that our residents are being monopolized by a single attending," Callie said.
"She's talking about Blake," Erin and Amelia said.
"You know what?" Callie turned to them.
"Isn't Blake with Grey?" Richard asked.
"Yes, and she has been since she got here. I worry she's not getting a full education. And Grey is... She's... she's running her ragged," Callie said.
"Residency runs you ragged," Richard said. "We've all been there, Torres. You know this as well as anyone."
"No, but this is different. This is different. I think it's personal," Callie said.
"Is it that you want to spend more time with your girlfriend?" Amelia said.
"Amelia, could you please-" Callie started.
"I mean, you are saying that it's personal," Erin shrugged. Amelia nodded.
"Exactly," she said.
"Hey, hey... all right. All right. Has Blake expressed this concern or just you?" Richard said. Callie didn't answer. "Okay. She's... Blake stays with Grey. We don't have a policy to move around residents to accommodate your personal lives," he said.
"No, that's not what I was saying," Callie said.
"If Blake has a problem, she comes to me," Richard said, patting her shoulder as he walked to the coffee pot. Callie stormed out of the room and Erin rolled her eyes.
"Women," she said.
Natalie unlatched from her and Erin covered herself up, swapping Natalie to the other side.
"Hey, all," a man with brown hair and a New Zealand accent stepped into the room, averting his eyes as soon as he saw Erin's shirt was half up so she could feed the baby.
"I'm decent, don't worry," Erin smiled, pulling the blanket off the back of the couch and over her shoulder to cover herself and Natalie.
"Uh, I was just wondering if someone could tell me where I can get some scrubs," he said awkwardly.
"Uh... Third floor by the dispensary," Maggie said.
"Cheers. You're, uh, Dr. Pierce, right?" he said, looking at Maggie.
"Mm-hmm," Maggie nodded.
"Yeah, I-I just wanted to say I'm super excited, and I can't wait to get started," he said.
"Great. Go get 'em," Maggie said.
"Okeydokey," he said awkwardly, turning and walking out of the room.
"Who was that?" Erin asked.
"I don't know," the other two mumbled.