"What are you doing for Thanksgiving?" Meredith asks.
Looking up from the scrub sink, Arizona replies, "I am volunteering at the LGBT youth shelter."
"I'm having a small dinner at my house with Maggie and the kids, you should join us," she offers.
"Meredith, that's really nice of you to offer, but I don't want to intrude on your family Thanksgiving," Arizona says declining the invitation.
"You're not intruding on anything, you're invited and if it helps, I've also invited Jo and Alex and Owen and Amelia, please come, oh and Maggie invited DeLuca so I'll be the odd man out if you don't." Meredith replies.
"So I'm your Thanksgiving date?" Arizona teases.
"Yes, be my Thanksgiving date!" Meredith says laughing as they head into surgery.
"Hey, your parents just told me they are going on a cruise for Thanksgiving. I'm sorry that you'll be on your own next week," Callie says stopping by Arizona's office.
"It's not a big deal Callie, I work all week, and I'm volunteering at the youth shelter in the morning and Meredith invited me over for dinner," Arizona explains.
"Oh good, that makes me feel better. Well thanks again for letting me take her to Miami for the week." Callie replies smiling at her ex. "I really need a break from this place."
Arizona returns the smile and watches Callie leave, she can't help but wonder if her ex needs a break from the hospital or her girlfriend. The gossip mill says they have broken up again. It's not really something that they would discuss yet in this stage of their friendship.
"Meredith, is there anything I can bring to dinner?" Arizona asks.
Looking up from her charts, Meredith considers the request, "What about that Mac & Cheese that Zola's always talking about?"
"Oh yay, something I can make!" Arizona says excitedly.
Laughing Meredith leans over and whispers, "I don't really cook either, Derek did most of the cooking," she confesses.
"Hmm, well then we'll never work as a couple Meredith, we'd starve." Arizona teases her and laughs as she walks away.
"What was that about?" Amelia asks.
"Nothing, I invited Arizona to Thanksgiving since everyone else is coupled up," Meredith explains.
"Wait, you mean as a friend or are you trying to tell me something?" Amelia asks confused.
"Yes as a friend," she replies glaring at the brunette, "Callie's out of town with Sofia and she's alone for Thanksgiving and we are friends, so she should have dinner with us."
"Makes sense. Okay so Owen is going to be there early to help Maggie cook, I'll be over after rounds, do you need me to bring anything?" Amelia asks.
"Not that I can think of right now, but check your phone before you head over," she replies.
"Mer says you're coming to Thanksgiving, why don't we pick you up on our way?" Alex suggests.
"Oh, well if you're sure it's not out of your way." Arizona replies.
"No, you're right on the way. And it's supposed to snow that night and I know that you don't like to drive in snow, so we'll take you," he points out.
"Thanks Alex," Arizona replies smiling at him. Ever since she and Callie broke up, he has been there for her and if she thinks about it, they are family in the way they care for each other. The way all of them care for each other here at the hospital, especially now, after the plane crash, losing Mark and Lexie, then losing Derek. It's really made them a tighter group, not that they weren't tight before, Derek and Meredith always hosted holiday dinners. But Arizona always felt like she was invited because of Callie, she never really felt close to Meredith. But now that Meredith is alone, the two of them have forged a friendship of sorts. Nothing that they have really discussed, but they seem to gravitate to each other and know when the other needs a friend.
"I believe that there are two kinds of families. The family that you're related to by blood is one, but the other family is the people that you love and surround yourself with. For some people, those are the same, but for others they are completely different people and that's okay. The important thing is that you have people around you who care for you, people who you can share the good things and will help you with the bad things." Arizona explains to the two teenagers.
"But Arizona you said that your family was okay with you being a lesbian, so aren't you still close to them?" Katie, one of the teens asks her.
"There are other reasons for families to not be close, Katie. It could be geography, my parents still live near DC, so I don't see them very often," she explains.
"What about your girlfriend?" Leslie asks.
"I'm not seeing anyone right now," Arizona replies, "But this isn't about me, you two have each other and your friends at school and you have the staff here. We're all your family, if you want us to be."
"Do you think my parents miss me?" Katie asks.
"I'm sure that they do. I have a daughter who's away this Thanksgiving and I miss her terribly," Arizona admits to them.
"Can we see a picture of her?" Leslie asks.
"Okay, but then we have to finish setting the tables for lunch," Arizona replies pulling her phone out to show them a few photos of Sofia.
"Oh wow, she doesn't look like you," Katie blurts out.
"No, she doesn't. My ex was the birth mother," Arizona replies showing them a photo of Callie and Sofia together.
"She's beautiful," Leslie says looking at the photo, "So why did you break up?"
"You can't ask her that!" Katie says turning to the other girl.
"You told her that her kid didn't look like her!" Leslie retorts.
Embarrassed and not wanting to talk about herself any longer, Arizona redirects them to the task at hand. "Okay, how about we finish setting the tables up for lunch?"
"It smells amazing in here!" Arizona says as they enter Meredith's house.
"Oh my god, you really did take out the wall!" Jo blurts out entering behind her.
"Hey Mer, we're here," Alex calls out, helping Arizona take off her coat and then helping Jo.
"Kitchen!" Meredith calls out.
Arizona enters the kitchen and sets the mac and cheese down on the counter. She has to laugh at Owen and Maggie in their matching aprons. "Nice aprons," she teases them.
"Amelia bought those a few years ago we never used them, but I decided the two of them should since they were cooking together," Meredith replies laughing.
"Derek wouldn't let you in the kitchen?" Arizona asks playfully.
"Cook with her sometime and you'll know why!" Maggie retorts.
"I can help in the kitchen," Meredith protests.
"You cut yourself with the knife pulling it out of the drawer," Alex teases her.
"That was one time and I was distracted by Bailey," Meredith protests.
"Sit back down and have some more wine," Maggie jokes.
Meredith huffs, then gets another glass and pours wine into both of them, "we're drinking, they're cooking," she says handing the glass of wine to Arizona.
"Perfect!" Arizona replies following Meredith into the living room. "Where are the kids?" she asks as they sit down.
"Aunt Amelia took them to the park, she thought it would be good to get them out before the bad weather moves in," Meredith explains, "But between us, I think she's avoiding Owen."
"Hey, Amelia called and Bailey fell into the mud and is having a melt down. I'm going to go get him." Alex says putting his coat on.
"Alex, get one of those old towels from the hall closet to carry him in so you don't get all muddy," Meredith suggests.
"Oh good idea," he says turning around to look in the closet for one. "Be right back," he says heading out the door.
"He'll probably need a bath, I should go start the water," she says standing up to head upstairs.
"He'll probably want his mom first, I'll go start the bath," Arizona points out as she sets her wine glass down.
"You're right, Uncle Alex will be good enough but when they walk in that door, he'll want me. Thanks Arizona," Meredith says standing up to walk over and wait for Alex and Bailey.
"How big was this puddle?" Arizona says laughing when Meredith enters the bathroom with Bailey covered in mud.
"Maybe I should spray him off in my shower before giving him a bath?" Meredith says trying not to laugh.
"Well then you'll have two bathrooms to clean," Arizona points out, going over to the cabinet for extra towels.
"Oh good point," Meredith says still laughing softly. "Okay Bailey boy, let's get you out of these clothes."
Arizona lays out a towel and Meredith sets Bailey on it and carefully removes his clothes, while Arizona dabs at his face and hair with a wet cloth, trying to remove as much of the mud as possible.
Poor Bailey sniffs back tears as they work on cleaning him up. "Momma, I didn't mean to fall," he says apologizing.
"I know, honey. It's okay, we'll get you cleaned up and into the warm bath," Meredith says softly to him.
Once they get him in the bathtub, Meredith begins washing the mud out of his hair.
"Arizona would you mind going into his room and getting the clothes that I laid out for him to wear today?" she asks a few minutes later.
Arizona enters the bedroom, which was hers when she lived here, and smiles. Meredith has decorated it with all sorts of fishing paraphernalia.
"I love what you did with his room, it's adorable," Arizona remarks when she returns with the clothes.
"Thanks, a lot of that was from Derek's office, I didn't know what else to do with it and Bailey always loved Derek's office, so it just made sense," she explains.
"I love it and what a great way to help him remember his dad," Arizona says softly.
Meredith nods and looks away a moment, she was trying not to think about Derek today, but it's not possible, since he loved having people over for Thanksgiving, everything reminds her of him.
"Hey, why don't I get him dressed and you can go change out of those wet clothes," Arizona says placing a hand on her back.
"Oh damn, I didn't even realize... are you sure?" Meredith asks looking down at her wet blouse and slacks.
"Yes, I've got this. It's not the first time I've dressed this guy, is it Bailey?" she says playfully ruffling his hair.
"Arizona, where's Sofia?" Bailey asks.
"She's with her other Mom today, Bailey." Arizona explains.
"Do you miss her?" he asks innocently.
"I do miss her, but at least I get to be here with you and your sisters," Arizona points out to him.
Finally sitting down to dinner, they all watch Owen carve the turkey and Maggie pipes up, "We should go around the table and say what we're each thankful for, isn't that the tradition?" she asks, looking at Meredith.
"Uh, it is. Why don't you go first?" she replies smiling tightly at her sister.
"Okay, well I'm thankful for everyone here today and you, Meredith. I'm thankful for you inviting me to be a part of your family," Maggie replies smiling happily at her sister and the kids.
As they go around the table, each person saying what they are thankful for, it gets to Arizona.
"I feel like I'm just going to repeat what everyone else has said, but I really am thankful for each of you here, you all mean a lot to me, so I'm thankful to be here with you all today," she says tearing up a little.
Meredith is next and she picks up her glass and motions for everyone else to do the same. "I'm thankful for each one of you being here today and for getting through this year. Everyone says that it will get easier, but I'm stocking up on wine, just in case it doesn't," she jokes tearfully.
Arizona reaches over and squeezes her hand and they clink glasses.
"Okay, let's eat!" Alex says grabbing the fork and putting turkey on his plate.
"Is that sleet? I thought we were getting snow tonight?" Amelia says standing at the window after dinner.
"I just put some coffee on, Owen is going to go in, since April is out of town," Meredith says entering the living room.
"I should probably go with him, since Nelson is in Tacoma tonight," Amelia replies crossing the room.
"Jo just got paged," Alex says. I'm going to go in with her. Arizona do you want me to run you home?" he asks.
"It's early, stay here, we'll run you home later," Maggie offers.
"Are you sure and I can call a cab, you guys don't have to get out tonight, it looks bad," Arizona says as she looks out the window.
"Well, you could always stay. We have a guest room, now." Meredith points out.
"Oh no, that won't be necessary," Arizona replies, trying to hide her discomfort. She hasn't stayed at someone's house since the accident. She has a routine at night and staying at someone's house makes her nervous, she doesn't have her crutches and what if she needs to get up at night.
"Okay, we're going to head out," Owen says slipping on his coat with Amelia behind him.
"Alex, why don't I just ride with them and you can stay here a little longer," Jo suggests.
"Yeah, Alex you're not on call," Meredith reminds him. "Stay so we can play that game Maggie got."
"Uh, we need more than four to play Cards Against Humanity," Maggie points out.
"What is Cards Against Humanity?" Arizona asks curiously.
"It's a dark and twisty card game, we opened it last night and read some of the cards," Meredith explains. "And we can play it with four, but I'm sure it's more interesting with more people," she adds.