A/N: Thanks to everyone giving this a chance! Small time jump here.
Enjoy!
Three days later:
Carolyn popped the cake pan in the oven and set the timer. She gave the island one last wipe, and folded the tea towel. Anna was coming home today, and Meredith didn't know it, but there was going to be a party like none other.
"Well, hello Zola, are you going to be my helper?" she asked her small companion. Zola had been Carolyn's miniature shadow, never letting her far out of sight, except when they visited Meredith and Anna at the hospital.
"I help," said the girl with a nod.
"Can you take these plates to the living room, dear? Just put them on the coffee table."
"O-kay," Zola replied sweetly, accepting the blue and pink paper plates.
"Thatta girl," murmured Carolyn.
"Hey," Maggie came in through the kitchen door, arms full of shopping bags. "I got everything... I think. Balloons, streamers... oh this is going to be great!"
"Indeed," Carolyn said, raising an eyebrow. Was that a pinata?
"Okay, well I've got to get this set up. Meredith will be here in what, an hour? Oh my God!"
Carolyn shook her head at Maggie's panic. "There's plenty of time," she said. "Maybe Lexie can help."
"Great idea. Is she here yet?"
"Hello!" A deep voice called from the front room. Mark. And Lexie, no doubt.
"In here!" Carolyn called.
Maggie bustled through the kitchen door into the living room with all her bags. "Lex-"
Carolyn chuckled softly, and reached in the cupboard for the JELLO.
"Oh, hello again," she said to the shadow that reappeared. "Do you want to help me make JELLO?"
"I good helper."
"Yes, you are." She smiled and pulled up a chair to the counter. "Stand on this, dear. Okay, we just have to wait for the water to boil-"
She was interrupted by the kitchen door opening again. What, no knock? Was this a hostel? A dorm? Meredith's place seemed to be home to all.
"Carolyn."
"Dr. Webber!"
"Please, call me Richard."
"Richard, I didn't think you would be here already."
Richard rubbed the top of his head. "Well, I came to scope out the situation for Amelia. She wanted to pick up her things..." he trailed off awkwardly.
Carolyn looked out to the living room, where Lexie and Maggie were discussing decoration ideas. She wasn't sure about the sisters' acceptance. Especially now. "I... don't think it's a good idea today," she said softly.
Richard nodded, following her gaze. "I understand," he said. "Oh, but I brought this," he said, lifting the long thin gift bag up and extracting a dark green bottle topped with gold foil, "Château de Fleur. Champagne. Non alcoholic, of course."
"Oh," she cooed, "That's lovely. We'll have a toast. The kids can have punch."
"Excellent. Well... I've got to get back to the hospital. Discharge our favorite patient."
"Richard..."
He turned.
"You know her better than I do... Meredith. You're like a father to her... You've seen her through thick and thin. She's ready isn't she? She can handle all this?" Carolyn gestured to the kitchen behind her and the living room behind that, finally resting her hand on Zola's shoulder as she licked sticky JELLO powdered fingers.
It wasn't that she doubted Meredith's ability to be a mother...
It was just the suddenness of it. And these weren't newborns. They were preschoolers, well on their way to adolescence and beyond. She imagined it could be easily overwhelming.
Richard pursed his lips, thoughtful. "I imagine she might have some rough days and nights... She might not have Derek, and Lord knows she misses him already, but... but she has all of us, Carolyn. And after everything... I know she'll make this work."
Carolyn nodded, considering his words, his attitude. "Thank you."
"Of course," Richard said.
"Hear anything about Zola's case?"
"No," he shook his head. "It's only been three days since the earthquake, I imagine it might be a while before they can get their act together. But, I hope they change their minds."
"Me too."
xxx
Jo carefully stood and shuffled out of the bathroom, dragging her IV behind her. It had been a couple days, but she was slowly feeling like herself again.
"Hey," Alex stood in the doorway. "No catheter, that's great."
"Yeah... they took it out last night. You have no idea how much I missed peeing." She sat awkwardly back on the bed. They hadn't talked much, since she first woke. Well, they talked... but not about them. Not about marriage or proposals or commitment.
Alex stepped further into the room, helping her ease back against the pillows. "Anna Banana's getting discharged today," he said.
See?
"Oh, that's great! Meredith is probably thrilled," Jo remarked.
"Yeah, she is... But she's gonna have a heart attack when she gets home. Pierce is having a surprise party."
"What? Oh, I wish I could come." Her hand fell onto his. For a few long seconds, they just stared at each other. Jo looked away first, folding the sheet over. "Alex-"
"-You're married," he said finally.
"How did you-"
He shrugged. "It came up. When the cops were investigating the shooting."
"Oh."
"Look... I don't know about this Paul guy, what happened that made you wanna run and change your name, but... I love you. Jo, I'm not going anywhere. So... we don't have to get married. If you don't want to, I mean, it's just a piece of paper, and we both know that doesn't have to mean anything." He lifted her hand, squeezed it.
"I love you, and you love me. That's what matters."
Jo believed that he wanted to believe that. To him, to Alex, that was the truth. But... it didn't sit right with her somehow.
Alex leaned in and kissed her cheek, she caught the spice of his cologne and lingering musk. Jo turned, trying to catch him on the lips, but he pulled away too soon. "I gotta get pizza for Mere's party," he said. "I'll see you later."
"Alex-" But he was already out the door.
Jo leaned back with a wince, rubbing her hand where the IV stuck. Dammit. She wanted to stop him, to hold him and tell him-
Tell him what?
That Paul beat her to a pulp? That she almost died? And now, she was hiding on the other side of the country, as far away as possible? What would Alex do then? Track Paul down and threaten him? Beat him up? Get in trouble...
She could lose everything.
Jo couldn't imagine it. She closed her eyes... slept.
Suddenly she jolted awake, panting. Flashes of the old place she shared with Paul, of his face, his fist, whirled in and around her. She floundered in bed-
"-Whoa," someone said. "Easy."
A hand gripped her shoulder, squeezed. She saw blue scrubs and a white coat."Dr. Grey?" she gasped.
"Hey," Meredith said. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Jo panted as her abdomen flared in resistance to her previous movements. "Just a dream."
"I just came to check on you before Anna gets discharged," Meredith gently lifted up Jo's gown to check her incision site. Her fingers gently ran over the stitches. "How are you feeling?"
"A little less like my insides went through a blender, thank you very much."
"Hey, you gave me and Bailey a run for our money in there," Meredith chided, pulling the gown back down. "Looks good, though. Any nausea or vomiting?"
"No, just a little sore and uncomfortable."
"Bowel movement?"
"Not yet, but if you brought me some cake that might help."
"Cake?" Meredith frowned.
"You know, cake. From the party?" Jo asked.
"Party?"
"They're having a welcome home party for you and Anna at your house. It's supposed to be a surprise."
"Oh!" Meredith smiled. "Well... thanks?
"Yeah, don't ruin it for them..."
Meredith chuckled, the sound light and airy, like bells. "I'll act surprised."
"It's nice..." Jo whispered.
"What's nice?"
"Hearing you laugh."
Meredith tucked her arms around herself, "I never thought..." she swallowed. "Anna's gonna give me a run for my money. And Zola too, But when I look at her, I see Derek. Clear as day. Like he's with me all over again..."
"You're happy," Jo summed up.
"I am." Meredith beamed. "Well-" she turned to the door.
"-Meredith?"
"Yeah?"
"Did Alex... did he tell you anything about me? About... what I said?"
"No," she said. "He's been pretty tight lipped. But I know he's worried about you."
"I wanna marry him,... but- it's complicated."
Meredith came back to the bed. "Look Wilson, Alex hasn't had it easy. Everyone he's ever been with has run away, or stolen his job... or gone crazy, or broken his heart... And it doesn't stick. He doesn't deserve to take another hit. I don't know what's going on between you two, but for what it's worth, I'm on your side. I am rooting for you to stick. You both deserve to be happy. I mean, Derek and I got married on a post-it in the resident's lounge... It doesn't have to be complicated."
Jo considered all this. Considered what it felt like having Alex in her life... she didn't want to lose him. And certainly not because of anything she did, or didn't do. Maybe it was time to put the past behind her.
They did deserve to be happy. "So, you gonna bring me cake?" she said.
Meredith chuckled again. "Get some rest, I'll see you later."
xxx
"So..." Meredith sighed as she looked at Anna through the rearview mirror. "Here we are. This is my house... our house. This is home, Anna." She hadn't realised until she buckled in her child, that Anna had never been to her house before.
A snap of fingers and she'd gone from a single, cranky workaholic surgeon-
To a mother.
Anna was oddly silent in the back.
"Anna?" Meredith probed.
The girl fiddled with her blue shirt, which featured a happy cartoon whale spurting water under a rainbow. A gift from Lexie."I have my own bed?" she asked.
"Yeah, of course."
"An' my own room?"
"Well you and Zola will share a room for now."
"An' you gonna make me brefast?"
"Yeah."
"What if, Mommy Merediff, what if you don' like me anymore? What if you don' wanna keep me?"
Meredith got out of the car and opened the back door. She unbuckled Anna from the booster seat, and gently ran her fingers through Anna's hair. "Anna, I love you. You know what that means?"
Her little girl stared back, brow furrowed and a finger on her bottom lip. "It means you take care of me?"
"Yes, and it also means that no matter what you do, or what you say, or how you behave... I'm not leaving you. Not ever. I'm gonna be here, okay. I'm keeping you forever."
"Forever?"
"I'm your forever mommy, Anna. Now, come on, let's go home. You're gonna love it."
Anna hopped down from the car and Meredith took her hand. She hadn't told Anna about the surprise party. She hoped she liked it. They walked past the wooden swing, and Meredith clutched the doorknob, knowing it was probably unlocked. "Ready?"
She opened the door.
"WELCOME HOME!"
Balloons, glitter, and a crazy amount of Confetti burst around them. Meredith swayed, almost dizzy at the overwhelming sight of her friends and family in the living room. Maggie and Carolyn, of course, and Lexie.
Mark sat on the couch beside April. April? Discharged already? Jackson held Noah as the little boy threw more glittering confetti in the air, tossing it over Sofia and Zola's heads. April's mother Karen stepped in from the kitchen with boxes of pizza, followed by Alex with a bottle of beer.
"Sorry we're late!" Callie startled her. She bumped past Meredith and Anna, stepping to join the rest in front of her. "But we're so happy for you!"
If there's anything you need... Anything, you let me know!" Arizona said as Callie pulled on her. She daintily kissed her wife on the cheek.
"Ok," Meredith squeaked.
But still, she remained there, frozen. She wasn't on the high-dive anymore. She wasn't in the air, either. She was in the water.
A perfect ten.
And it was warm.
"Mommy?" Anna questioned.
"Mama!" Zola's squeal pulled her from her daze.
A flash of pink and purple sparkles came at her a mile a minute. Meredith bent and swept Zola up with one arm. That little body against her, felt perfect. "Hey, Lovebug! I missed you!"
"I made JEHWO!" she exclaimed.
"Did you?"
"Mommy?!" Anna pulled urgently on her other hand.
Poor Anna seemed unsure about the whole put Zola down, crouching to Anna's level. "It's okay, Anna-Bean... It's a party. For us. You. Me. And Zola. We're a family now. And all these people... they're our family too. They love us too."
"We havin a pawty?" Anna asked, eyes wide as she looked around at everyone.
"PAW-TY!" Zola squealed, her pink construction paper crown sliding off her head. She bent and picked it up. "Come on, Anna! Bawoons! Let's pay!"
Anna glanced at Meredith, then at Zola, and back at Meredith again.
"Go on," Meredith nudged. "This is your house now, go play."
Anna nodded, and let Zola take her hand and drag her to the living room. It appeared Noah was attempting an impromptu game of twister. Happiness popped inside as she watched them all play.
The doorbell startled her. Who could it possibly be now? Meredith stepped back and opened the door a crack. "This isn't really-" Her heart dropped when she saw who it was. "Janet."
Please, no.
Not today.
"Meredith," Janet said with a nod. "This is Judge Irving. He wants to speak to you," she motioned to a stout balding man off to the side.
"Dr. Grey," he stepped forward, extending a hand. "It's a pleasure. May I come in?"
"We're having a party," Meredith said. What was a judge doing here? What was this about? Zola? Anna? Alex? Was it something she did? Or didn't do?
"Oh." He leaned back on his heels. "Well, this can't wait," he said, gripping his glasses.
Meredith shot a look at Janet, with a snap judgement. "You can't take her! Not today. Zola's happy, and she made JELLO and-"
"-Meredith, we're not here to take anyone," Janet said.
"Dr. Grey, maybe we can just talk here?" Irving motioned to the swing.
Meredith glanced back inside the house. Everyone was focused on the kids at the moment. She walked slowly to the bench and sat down, scared, confused... possibly hopeful. Possibly.
"Janet tells me Zola is doing well here." Irving said.
"Um. Yeah, she is. Zola's... she's great. Perfect." Her voice caught, and she swallowed, trying to breathe.
"Good," he nodded. "I looked over Zola's case file. Amelia Shepherd, she's your sister in law?"
"Um, yeah. I guess..." Sort of? Despite now having (temporary) custody of Zola... and despite Anna's presence now making the Shepherd connection a little more real, she was still unsure about Amelia's place in her life. Meredith hadn't seen her since the day of the earthquake. She'd heard from Lexie that they were working on a tumor... but other than that, Amelia had steered clear. She honestly wasn't sure what to think about that.
"Have you spoken to her lately?"
"No... I uh, we haven't spoken."
"Hm," Judge Irving reached into his briefcase and pulled out a legal sized document. "I've dismissed Zola's case. These are your official adoption papers. All you have to do... is sign them."
Meredith stared at the judge, stunned. "What?"
"I've discussed it with Janet, and, in light of recent events, we're fully supportive of you taking full and permanent custody of Zola. Have the papers signed and returned to your lawyer as soon as possible." He handed the document to her.
"What? Really?"
Judge Irving smiled. "You've lost enough, Dr. Grey. I don't think I need to say more." He stood up as Meredith clutched the papers. "And, if you see Dr. Shepherd... can you tell her I threw out the letter. I didn't feel I needed it."
"Letter?" she asked, but he was already halfway down the driveway.
"Are you alright?" Janet stepped forward.
Meredith's vision was blurry as she gazed at the papers with Zola's name on them. A water droplet dotted the first page, making an almost translucent circle. She wiped her eyes, crying. "I-I'm a mom," she blurted, "of two!"
"Yes," Janet clutched her upper arm and coaxed her to sit back on the bench.
"Two," Meredith said again. "How did that happen?"
"They're good kids. It's going to be alright. You will do just fine."
"Yeah."
"I saw you on the news. How you saved Anna. You'll be a good mother. As good as you are a doctor."
"Thanks. Thanks for..." she sniffed.
"You're welcome. Actually I didn't even know Judge Irving would be here... I actually just came by to give you this." Janet reached into her purse and pulled out a long lumpy object.
A thrill rose in her heart when the cover was removed. "Anatomy Jane?" Meredith asked.
"The firemen found it. She's a little scratched up, but I don't think Zola will care, she loves this doll."
"She does. Thank you. You know what? Come in. I want you to come in."
Meredith clutched the adoption papers as she stepped inside, ushering Janet in with her.
"Hey, there you are!" Mark boomed, hopping up. "We thought we lost you!" he exclaimed as he hobbled over.
"No, it was just... Janet." Meredith squirmed, the good news burbling inside her. "Janet and... a Judge."
"A Judge? Wait, what's this?" Mark pulled Zola's adoption papers out of her grasp. "What? Everyone! Everyone, can I have your attention?"
"Mark!" Meredith reached for the papers, but he twisted away, balancing on his crutch. He waved them high over his head even as Meredith clawed at him.
"Everybody! Over here!"
Everyone stopped mingling, the kids looked up from their pinata bashing, and they all stared at Meredith and Janet in the entrance of her own living room.
"It seems Meredith got some good news," Mark said. "Gonna share?"
Meredith swallowed nervously. She wasn't used to all the attention focused on her. She was used to having her freak-outs in private, like in supply closets and graveyards. But this was a good freak- out, she reminded herself. She searched through the crowd for a particular brown face. "Zola come here, Lovebug."
Zola came up with Anna following, so Meredith brought her over too. She crouched down to her new daughter's level. This was the only person she needed the attention of right now. "Zola, do you remember when I told you that I wanted to be your mama, but I had to wait for some important people to say it was okay?"
"Yeah," she said quietly.
"Yeah. Well, today, an important man came to my door. He's a judge. And he gave me a paper..." she reached for the paper from Mark. "This paper. Zola... this paper says that I'm your mama, and you are my daughter." She put the paper on Zola's chest, and on the line at the bottom, she signed her name, Dr. Meredith Grey. Then she hugged and kissed Zola. "You're my daughter now, Zola. Forever."
xxx
The party was over. Her carpet was covered in glitter and the remnants of soap bubbles. If she listened closely, she could still hear the echo of raucous preschooler laughter and the crunch of candy wrappers, even from upstairs.
Meredith dozed, worn out from the kids, from the tears. Happy tears. She wasn't quite asleep... just in that half asleep state where her eyelids closed a little longer each time she blinked.
Right on top of her, Anna snored softly. The little girl with her raven curls had tuckered out first, after playing twister, pin the tail on the unicorn, and smashing open a pinata... She had her slice of extra cheese pizza and three bites of cake before she took a seat next to 'Docker' Alex and rambled for half an hour before falling asleep.
Zola had taken much longer to sleep. Probably because of all the extra sugar she'd consumed when Carolyn brought out the JELLO, and also because she used her energy much more sparingly, never spending more than a few minutes at each activity before returning to Anatomy Jane to take her apart and put her back together again.
But she was asleep now, her head awkwardly shoved under Meredith's armpit while her little hand unconsciously scrunched Meredith's shirt right under the collarbone.
Meredith didn't know what to do. She didn't want to wake them, but the pins and needles in her right arm told her she needed to change positions or risk painful cramps from loss of circulation.
It's just...
They were so cute.
And they were hers.
Both of them.
But as her arm throbbed, she had to extricate herself. She needed her own bed now. With the caution of a cat, she pulled her arm back and gently rolled Zola on her side.
Then she slowly sat up, using both arms to roll Anna off to settle against her sister. Quietly, she scooted off the tiny kids bed. Aww, they looked so sweet. She covered them with a blanket and closed the door partway.
Meredith yawned... gosh what time was it? The clock in the hall read 9:30. Not late at all by her standards, but... being a mom? Her standards would definitely have to change. She stepped into the bathroom quickly to pee. When she was done, she unpacked the girls toiletries. Oops. She'd forgotten to get them to brush their teeth and wash before bed.
Oh, well. Tomorrow. She deserved a free pass tonight.
Yawning, she padded out the bathroom, only to run into- "Amelia!-"
"Meredith! Sorry! I still have a key- I just came to get the rest of my stuff. If that's okay."
Meredith just stared, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Amelia... her messy waves of hair... She looked like Anna. Like Derek. Like family.
"I'm not mad at you anymore," Meredith blurted. It just came to her. All her anger, the pain from that day... was gone. Anna cured that. Zola cured that. Now, looking at Amelia, her post-it sister in law... "Come here," she put a her finger to her lips, pulling Amelia to the kids bedroom. Meredith pushed the door open slightly, revealing the girls fast asleep, side by side. "They tired themselves right out," she whispered.
"Yeah," Amelia said, "Lexie told me about Anna," Amelia said. "I... can't believe she's yours. Really yours and Derek's."
"She looks like you," Meredith commented.
Amelia quirked a half smile. "Yeah, she does. Looks like Derek too."
Meredith closed the door, leaving it open a crack. She padded down to her own room and sat on the bed, "I know," she said. "Losing Zola... Amelia, it eviscerated me." She shoved her memories from those weeks away. This wasn't the time. She had to get over this.
"I'm sorry. Meredith. I was awful. I hurt you. I'll regret it for the rest of my life. I'm so sorry."
"Don't," Meredith hated that word. Sorry. Though she understood its purpose and meaning, she hated hearing it. Because to her, sorry was what you said when you spilled milk, or accidentally bumped into someone. 'Sorry' in this instance didn't come close to healing her scarred heart.
She got Zola back. She faced her fears. And Derek would want her to do this. So it was time to move forward.
Amelia remained hovering in the bedroom doorway. "Um... after this surgery on Dr. Herman... I'm... I wrote a letter to John's Hopkins. There might be a teaching position there for me. So..." she shrugged.
Meredith picked at her blankets. All kinds of stuff covered her bed. Carolyn had been cleaning, and put things she didn't know what to do with on her bed for Meredith to deal with when she had time. She reached for an old worn brown teddy bear. Derek's bear. She clutched it. No, she wasn't angry or upset anymore. She wasn't lost or empty...
Amelia could leave. Be as far out of her life as all the other Shepherd sisters, but- "A judge came to my house today... Judge Irving... " Meredith licked her lips, "Did you write him a letter or something? He said he threw it out."
"He threw it out?" Amelia looked stunned.
"Yeah," she said, gazing at her sort-of sister. "Why would he do that? Did it have something to say about Zola?"
"Uh, well..." Amelia paused, "I told him you should have custody. And if you had custody, I would leave. The letter was my acceptance to work at Hopkins."
"Hopkins?" Hopkins. Baltimore. That was a long way away. Meredith crushed the bear in her grip. Derek's bear.
"You loved Zola, and I ruined it. I had to try. Mere, you did everything right. I'm the one who screwed up. I just thought... if I was out of the picture, you would have a chance."
She mulled this over. "It's far," she said.
"Yeah."
"You'd have to start over again."
"Yeah... that's the story of my life, I guess." Amelia shrugged it off. "I'd be closer to my sisters, not that they'd care but..."
It sounded so lonely. Meredith knew that Amelia had worked hard to try and forge some connections here. She had Mark, and Richard... and possibly Owen. She'd screwed up, but she didn't deserve to be alone again. Meredith's attention went back to the bear. Was it making Mcdreamy puppy dog eyes at her? "You can stay, if you want."
"What?"
"
Anna has a right to know the other half of her family and... I'm gonna need help."
"Really?"
"Amelia, Judge Irving gave me full custody of Zola, I'm officially her mom."
"What?! Mere, that's great! I'm so happy for you."
"Yeah. Look, I don't have time for grudges or drama anymore. You hurt me... but I hurt you too. You needed someone, and I wasn't there. It's done. Now we got Zola back, and Anna... and I just want to love them, and I can't if I'm still mad at you. So... we're good. Me and you."
"You really mean that?"
"Yeah," Meredith stood up and walked to her sister. "This is Derek's bear. I was gonna give it to Anna tonight but she's already asleep. I think... tomorrow, when we put her to bed, you should give it to her." She put it in Amelia's hands.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Wait, did you say 'We?'"
"Yeah, you're my sister."
A/N: Well, how about that! Hope you liked. Please comment! Vote! More to come with all pairings next.