A/N: Hello readers! So, I know it's been a long time since I updated, but I am back! I'd like to thank all of you for your continued support on this and I hope that you'll continue to do so through the thick and the thin.
Timeline: Around the time when Zola is 5-6 years old
"Mommy! Daddy!" Zola's voice rang in the big house, cutting through the silence of the night.
Meredith and Derek, who were sitting on their bed idly and chatting, were immediately alerted by their five-year old daughter's loud cries. In the wink of an eye, Zola's tiny form came rushing in through the bedroom door and she hurled herself on the bed.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down, Princess! You'll hurt yourself," Derek warned as he wrapped an arm around his whirlwind daughter's waist to calm her down.
Zola giggled loudly as she settled herself on her father's lap and then looked up at both her parents. "Mommy, Daddy, look what I got!" she exclaimed enthusiastically as she held up her left hand and opened her fist to show them something.
Meredith and Derek both looked down at the object sitting on Zola's palm and their faces immediately broke out into wide grins.
"ZoZo, you lost your first tooth?" Meredith asked in an excited voice as she took in the small pearly white tooth sitting on Zola's tiny palm.
"Mmmhmm..." Zola nodded enthusiastically as she held up the tooth proudly in front of her parents.
"Princess, that's amazing!" Derek exclaimed as he hugged Zola tightly and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "You're becoming a big girl," he said, his heart swelling with a father's pride.
"Daddy, I already a big girl," Zola said and let out a giggle.
"Of course, you are, sweetie," Meredith said as she ruffled Zola's hair playfully.
"Soooooo, Mommy, when will the Tooth Fairy come?" Zola asked in her childlike voice filled with excitement.
Derek looked up at his wife in surprise and said, "ZoZo, how do you know about the Tooth Fairy? We didn't tell you about her..."
Zola slapped her head with her palm and said, "Oh, Daddy, you're so silly! Janice at school already losed her first tooth, and she told me all about the Tooth Fairy. She said that the Tooth Fairy left her four dollars," Zola said, jumping up and down on her father's lap. "I want the Tooth Fairy to come too! When will she come?"
Meredith giggled at her daughter's barely contained excitement and said, "Well, honey, the Tooth Fairy only comes at night, when we all are asleep. You have to place your tooth under your pillow and go to sleep, and then the Tooth Fairy will come and exchange your tooth for a gift."
Zola looked up at her mother in surprise and said, "You mean, she will take away my tooth?"
"Yes, Princess," Derek said with a solemn nod of his head.
"But, Daddy, what does the Tooth Fairy do with all the teeth she collects? What does she do with so many baby teeth?" Zola asked in an astonished voice, her childish curiosity taking over.
Meredith and Derek laughed at the surprised look on Zola's face and Derek answered, "Well, we don't exactly know what the Tooth Fairy does with all the teeth she collects. Some people say that she builds she builds The Tooth Fairy Village and The Tooth Fairy Castle with the teeth."
Zola's tiny nose scrunched up in confusion. "How does she build a castle with teeth?" she asked, her questions never-ending.
"I dunno. She probably uses the teeth like bricks and toothpaste like mortar, but I don't know. Some people say that she takes the baby teeth to her fairy lab and recycles them to make new, shiny adult teeth and gives them back to you," Derek explained to his curious little daughter.
"But, Daddy, how does she keep track of which tooth is whose?" Zola popped up another question.
Derek sighed, out of answers and looked to his wife for help. Meredith smiled in understanding and said, "ZoZo, sweetie, why don't you ask the Tooth Fairy all those questions in a letter? She'll be able to answer you better than Daddy can. And now, you have to go to bed, because if you don't go to bed, how will the Tooth Fairy come and visit you?"
Zola pouted in annoyance and said, "But, I don't wanna go to bed. I wanna meet the Tooth Fairy!"
Meredith laughed at her daughter's antics and said, "ZoZo, what did I tell you just now? The Tooth Fairy comes in only when everyone is asleep. You can't meet her."
"But I wanna meet her!" Zola said with a stubborn pout.
"Princess, if you don't go to sleep now, the Tooth Fairy will never come to visit you. Is that what you want?"Derek asked his daughter, hoping she would fall for the trick.
Zola wrinkled her eyebrow in confusion and thought for a minute. Finally, she said, "Fine. I will go to bed. But if I sleep, Tooth Fairy will come and give me gift, right?"
"Yes, sweetie, she will. Now, c'mon, I and Daddy will tuck you in bed," Meredith said as she picked up her daughter in her arms and carried her towards her bedroom with Derek in tow.
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After finally putting Zola down, Meredith and Derek tiptoed back to their bedroom and shut the door. Meredith propped herself on the edge of the bed as Derek shut the door and smiled at her.
"What are ya thinking?" Derek asked as he came and sat down beside his wife.
Meredith gave him a small smile as she leant into her husband's warm body. Resting her head on Derek's shoulder, she said, "I was just thinking that...when I lost my first tooth, no one was there to feed me the legend of the Tooth Fairy. My Mom made it clear to me at the age of five that Tooth Fairy, Santa, Easter Bunny and all those other stuff didn't exist. She told me to stop dwelling on such foolish, impractical things and start being mature and pragmatic. I just - today, when Zola was so excited about losing her first tooth and meeting the Tooth Fairy, I couldn't help but wish that I had the opportunity to enjoy these kinds of little moments too." A single tear slipped down Meredith's cheek as she remembered her own childhood days.
"Oh, Mer," Derek whispered into her hair as he wrapped a strong arm around his wife and rubbed slow, soothing circles on her back.
Meredith raised her hand to wipe the tear away and then laughed. "Look at me, I am crying like a silly baby over the Tooth Fairy," she joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Derek cupped his wife's cheek and looked straight into her grey-green orbs. "Mer, I am so sorry that you spent your childhood like that. Every child has the right to grow up with these sweet little legends and traditions of Tooth Fairies and Santa, and I hate your mother for ripping that away from you at such a young and tender age. She was a horrible person. I wish I could go back in time and change things for you," he said as he pressed his lips to Meredith's forehead.
Meredith shook her head and said, "I know. But, Derek, believe me, I - I think I can live the childhood I never had through my children. By making them happy, by giving them the childhood I never had, I will experience all the joys that I missed out on. After all, that's what kids are for, right? So that we can fulfil our unfulfilled dreams through their eyes?"
Derek gazed at his wife lovingly as he stroked her cheek with his knuckles. "Yes, Mer, yes. We'll make sure to give Zola, Bailey and Ellis all the things that either of us didn't get in our lives. We'll do everything in our power to keep our kids happy - happier than we had been in our childhood," Derek said as he hugged Meredith to his chest.
Meredith nodded silently as the duo stayed in the affectionate embrace for a long time. After a while, Meredith said, "Do you think Zola would have fallen asleep by now? Because we need to go and place the money below her pillow."
"Oh, yes, we have to do that. How much do you think we should leave for her? Ten? Fifteen?" Derek asked as he reached for his wallet.
"Derek!" Meredith slapped her husband's arm with a gasping laugh. "She is just five! We can't give her that much money! She is not old enough to handle it," Meredith said with a chuckle.
"But..." Derek tried to protest, but was cut off by Meredith.
"Derek, I know that you want to spoil our little girl to your heart's content, but, believe me, handing her so much money at such a young age wouldn't be wise," Meredith said with a laugh.
"Fine. How about five dollars, then?" Derek asked, taking out a five dollar bill from his wallet.
"Five sounds good," Meredith said and her face suddenly lighted up. "Hey, I have an idea," she said as she quickly made her way to the dresser.
"What?" Derek asked, nonplussed by his wife's cryptic words.
Meredith didn't respond immediately as she rummaged in one of the drawers for a while, before she finally took something out and came over to where Derek was sitting.
"We should smear some of this glittery eye-shadow on one edge of the fiver," Meredith said, her eyes sparkling. "Then, we can tell Zola that it's fairy dust! She'll be so happy," Meredith remarked, her voice filled with childlike enthusiasm.
Derek's eyes shone in excitement as he took in his wife's words. "Mer, that's a great idea!" he remarked as Meredith proceeded to put the plan into action. "Why don't I get ideas like this?"
"Because I am a genius and you're an idiot," Meredith giggled as she rubbed some of the glitter onto the bill with the brush.
Derek pouted as he feigned hurt. "Hey! Don't call me an idiot, it hurts my ego," he said and the duo laughed in unison.
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As the sun rose high in the Seattle sky, tiny cries rang out in the house, rousing Meredith and Derek from their sleep.
"Mommy, Daddy! Look what I got!!" Zola squealed excitedly much like the previous night as she came barrelling to her parents' bedroom and banged on the door. "Open the door, Daddy! The Tooth Fairy comed last night!" she squealed.
Derek rubbed his eyes sleepily as he exchanged a secret smile with his wife. "Coming, Princess," Derek called out as he yawned and got out of bed. Walking over to the door, he unlocked it and Zola immediately pushed in and threw her arms around Derek's waist.
"Lookie what the Tooth Fairy gave me last night!" she exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear as Derek picked her up in his arms and walked over to the bed where Meredith was still snuggled under the covers.
"Oh, show, show," Meredith said, her eyes shining with the same childlike enthusiasm as she pulled Zola into the bed and let her snuggle under the blankets. Derek climbed in bed beside them and snuggled with his wife and daughter, effectively sandwiching Zola between their bodies.
"The Tooth Fairy gave me five dollars!!!" Zola exclaimed loudly as she held up the note proudly with her tiny fingers for her parents to see.
"Wow," Meredith exclaimed, feigning surprise. "That's so great, sweetie!"
"I know," Zola chimed in with a solemn nod. "But, Mommy, what is this shiny shiny thing on the edge of the note?" she asked curiously as she rubbed her fingers over the glitter.
Meredith and Derek peered in at the note and then opened their mouths in fake surprise. "Princess, that - that looks like fairy dust!" Derek pointed out excitedly as Meredith nodded in agreement.
"Fairy dust?!" Zola asked. "Tooth Fairy gave me fairy dust, yay!!!" she squealed in joy, jumping up and down on the bed. "Tooth Fairy don't give fairy dust to Janice, she only gave it to me!"
Meredith laughed at her daughter's wild enthusiasm as she said, "Well, that's because you're an extra good princess, sweetie."
"I an extra good princess," Zola echoed proudly as she snuggled between her parents. Suddenly, a low rumble came from Zola's tummy, causing the trio to break into laughter.
"Princess, are you hungry?" Derek asked as he kissed Zola's cheek.
"Mmmhmm..." Zola admitted sheepishly.
"Well, then, what do you want for breakfast? Daddy has time today, so he will make you anything you want," Derek said to his daughter.
"Oooh! I want chocolate chip pancakes...With lots of chocolate syrup," Zola answered, licking her lips at the mere thought of it.
"Done," Derek said decisively.
"But, ZoZo," Meredith chimed in, "if you eat so much chocolate so early in the morning, all your teeth will fall off."
Zola's eyes widened on hearing that and she answered, "Really? Then I wanna eat more and more chocolate so that all my teeth fall off quickly and the Tooth Fairy gives me lot of money and fairy dust!" Zola exclaimed innocently.
Derek and Meredith exchanged amused looks with each other before bursting into peals of laughter.
Little Zola, unable to understand anything, asked, "Why you two laughing?"
But, Meredith and Derek could barely respond to their daughter's question as they continued laughing while snuggling with their precious little jewel in bed.
I didn't get many comments on last chapter, so I was wondering if you guys want me to continue this. If you want me to leave, then just say the word. Anyway, I'll update again if I get 10 comments on this chapter! :) Let me hear your voice!