"Come on, Meredith! Don't walk away from me!" Derek sighed as she ignored him, still, and walked into their bedroom with Zola - who was growing quickly with each passing day. Meredith had known that when it came to Zola, he would do anything and if Zola was around when they were heading into a potential fight, Derek wouldn't yell at her once because he couldn't bear the thought of yelling at his daughter and making her cry - especially when his issue was with her mother and not her. Derek followed her and shut the door gently as Meredith bounced Zola in an attempt to get her to laugh. "Meredith?"

"We aren't talking about it."

"You're running away."

"No," she shook her head. "I went into the bedroom because Zola doesn't need to see the other children around here."

Derek smiled at her reference to Jackson, Lexie, and Alex. "We have to talk about it."

"No, we don't."

"Yes, we do."

"No," she answered firmly. "I told them - they didn't ask - that they could come over here for a nice dinner. It's easier that way anyway, Derek."

"On who? Them?"

"Yes."

"I don't care about them!"

Meredith smiled and shook her head. "April was with me, when you were shot and in the operating room and Cristina was trying to take a bullet out your chest. She was with me, Derek, when I miscarried. And when I screwed with the trial she was the one person who didn't yell at me. She simply sat by my side and told me she was there if I needed anyone to talk to, because she knew what it was like to mess up."

Derek crossed his arms at her argument, realizing now that whatever he was going to say would be futile. "Meredith-"

"Derek," she cut him off, stressing his name, "she lived here for a while. And...And her family doesn't live here and she needs someone to celebrate with."

"When did you become such a champion of family?"

Meredith smiled again and lifted Zola slightly. "When this little girl walked into our lives. Now, I don't want to argue with you anymore. We're having the dinner here, and that's that."

"I can't talk to you right now."

Before he could walk away - out of the room and away from her - she called out, "Post-it!"

"Post-it?" He turned around to face her and chuckled softly. "You can't call post-it here."

"Why not?"

"Because it doesn't apply."

"Oh, yes it does."

"How?"

She kissed Zola gently in attempt to give her a second to think; her eyes glanced up to the post-it that they had framed on the wall and immediately she smiled. "You broke all three post it rules."

"How?" He sounded surprised now.

"Rule number one: you love me when you hate me," Meredith told him. "This...This is not love. You bailing on me when I agreed to hold a dinner is not love. Which brings me to the second rule: no running away ever. No one walks out. That was the agreement."

"You didn't yell post-it when I stayed at the house for a couple days."

"I don't want to talk about that," Meredith brushed him off quickly, seeing as that was still somewhat a sore spot and totally defeating her point. "Besides, you can't walk out on something as simple as a dinner - not that you can walk out on anything else, either!"

Derek nodded. "What third rule did I break?"

"We take care of each other," Meredith told him proudly. "And you not being here for me during this dinner - and the chaos of getting there - that's not taking care of each other."

"For one thing," he walked over to her and kissed her gently before he kissed his daughter, "I do love you right now even though I hate you. For another, I was running away. I was simply running into the kitchen. There's no saying that I wouldn't have come back. And three, I do take care of you and I will take care of you and support you through this ridiculous thing that you agreed to. I just want the right to complain about it first. Can you give me that, Mer, since I'm vowing never to break our post-it again?"

She nodded and smiled. "But why, Derek?"

"Why what?" He smiled when Zola turned to him and hit him gently on the nose.

"Why do you want to complain about it?" Meredith saw that he wanted to play with her, and handed their daughter over to him, smiling at him while he bounced her around their small room.

"For one thing, I like my house quiet."

"We haven't had quiet in here our entire relationship."

"And for another thing," he continued after she shot down his first reasoning with a roll of her eyes, "I don't even know Dr. Stark. See! I'm calling him doctor! What does that say?"

"That says that dinner is going to be a great opportunity to get to know him." Meredith scowled after a moment. "You mean you've never worked with him on a case?"

"Never. Mostly it was Arizona when it came to a child," Derek told her. "I have heard rumors, though. And not just stories from you."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Like he wanted to cut off a girl's leg?"

"Yeah, he did want to do that," Meredith told him and scowled when he began to laugh. "Derek, that's not funny!"

"No, no," Derek shook his head and stopped laughing with a smile. "That's not funny at all. You think he'd be upset if I brought that up at dinner?"

"I'd be upset."

"Oh, no, we wouldn't want Mommy mad at us, would we?" He kissed Zola's head gently before he turned back to Meredith. "Fine. When's the dinner?"

"Tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Don't sound so surprised," Meredith told him with a shake of her head. "It'll be fine. We aren't cooking anything, Derek. They're just using the kitchen."

"And then the dining room."

"Yes."

Derek sighed before he conceded, "Fine. I'll go along with this and pretend it was all my idea but I want sex tonight."

Meredith smiled and shook her head. "Fine."

"Good." He smiled. "You think he'd be upset if I bought him a mutt and named him Max?"

"Derek!"

He only laughed and shook his head.

Somehow everything had run smoothly. April couldn't believe how they had pulled it off, but it had happened. Robert had the same controlled, calm confidence making this dinner like he was in a complex surgery. There were barely any slip ups - and ones that happened were taken care of immediately before anything could spiral out of control - and he had remained collected throughout where April, sometimes, didn't know what she was going to do. But he had pulled it off. And he had told her that if she needed to take a minute to relax and breath that would be fine with him.

Before April knew what had happened, she and Arizona had been kicked out of the kitchen by both Robert and Callie. Scowling, April only shook her head as she sat down on the couch. "They kicked us out, just like that?"

Arizona shrugged. "Callie loves to cook. And apparently, so does your fiancee."

"He was just starting to let me into the kitchen, too."

Arizona laughed. "And then he kicked you back out. Don't take it the wrong way. He just...He doesn't want this to be stressful for you."

April smiled at his concern and sincerity. "Weddings are stressful by nature."

"Well, he's probably going to do the best he can to make sure you're as calm as possible. And let me tell you what, April, you were not calm in that kitchen. For a surgeon, you don't really handle personal situations well."

"I don't know what it is. I'm calm in the ER and with people's lives, but not with food."

"And that's what Callie and Robert are for," Arizona told her with a smile. "So now you and I can relax while they worry and stress and cook."

April scowled. "I wonder if they're getting along in there."

Callie wheeled around to find that he was staring at her while whisking eggs. "Don't stare at me like that."

Robert only scowled more. "All right."

"All right, here's what's going to happen. You and I are going to work together to make sure this dinner goes off without a hitch, and to do that, you need to let me take over. Because I'm not like Arizona. I can't work under you. I'd go crazy and want to kill you."

Robert smiled finally. "I appreciate your bluntness."

"I'm a blunt person," Callie told him. "Now, what are you doing?"

"Working on the breadcrumbs? Are you going to do anything besides stand there?" He smiled when Callie only glared at him; this would be interesting, that's for sure. But he didn't mind battling her. Having never worked with her on a case, this was certainly different. He wasn't used to someone challenging him so openly, but he was up for the fight.

"You do want this to go off without a hitch?"

"No, I want this to be the most stressful times of April's life so she doesn't want to walk down the altar."

Callie scowled at his sarcasm; she was beginning to hate that. "So you do your thing and I'll do my thing."

"Sounds good to me."

"All right, get to it."

"I am," he told her, smiling slightly when she glared at him. "You might want to take your own advice, though."

This was going to be an interesting evening.

Dinner had gone off without a hitch. Everyone had a good time, laughing, joking, telling stories, and April was surprised to find that Robert and Derek hit it off. She hadn't expected that; what she had thought was going to happen was there would be an awkward silence between the men, but she was happy now to discover that wasn't the case. April was glad, too, that there were finally seeing him for the man that she knew, not the snide surgeon that they were all used to.

April smiled at him from across the table where he was animatedly talking to Derek about something; he hadn't even realized she was staring at him, so she turned to Lexie, who was busy eyeing the salad that she hadn't finished from earlier. "You know, Lexie, you haven't touched your food all night."

"I know."

"You feeling all right?"

"Fine."

April scowled at her short, blunt answers and the way she refused to look at her; April knew there were times when Lexie thought she was annoying, but they were friends. They talked and listened to each other - much like Meredith and Cristina but not so dysfunctional at times. "Lexie?"

"What?" Lexie sighed. "I'm sorry, April. I didn't mean to snap at you. This is your engagement party. You should...I shouldn't...I'm sorry."

"What's wrong?"

Before Lexie could answer, their conversation was interrupted Robert, who placed a gentle hand on his fiancee's shoulder. "Lexie, you mind if I steal April for a moment?"

"Honey, it's-"

"No, go ahead," Lexie cut April off with a wave. "We'll talk later. It's not a big deal."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead."

April took Robert's hand and scowled at the thoughtful look on his face - like something was bothering him and had been for a long time. Though she persisted, he didn't say anything to her until they were outside, on the porch, safe from the pelting rain. Finally, when he shut the door so they could have some privacy, she asked, "Robert, what's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"So then why'd you pull me away from them when-" She was cut off when he kissed her suddenly; though he had taken her by surprise, she responded gently, unable to come up with a good reason why she should push him away. Finally, when they separated, she asked, "Is that all you wanted?"

"No."

"What?"

"Don't hate me."

April scowled almost immediately, before he could even finish the sentence. She crossed her arms defensively and asked, "And why would I hate you?"

"I just got paged."

"What?"

"Yeah. I have to go. It's...It's one of the kids. They're prepping him for surgery and...I have to go," Robert told her, his tone apologetic. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, leave her alone here with everyone else. But he had to go; that was work calling, and as a surgeon he couldn't simply turn that down. She must have understood that. "Honey, I'm sorry. I just-"

"Go."

Robert simply stared at her, trying to analyze whether she was angry or upset or not surprised at all. When he found nothing except a blank stare, he discovered that his legs wouldn't move. He couldn't go until he knew she wasn't furious at him. "April-"

"I said go," April told him. "A kid's life is at stake. You don't have time to stand here and wonder about how I'm feeling."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm not surprised," April told him. "We're doctors, Robert. These sort of things happen. When you're called to go, you're called to go. There's nothing else to it. I'll take care of everything here."

He hated that she had to do that, that she had to field the questions and bid everyone goodbye without him there; that's not what couples did. At engagement parties, they stood side by side and they were supposed to be going through this together. Work was preventing any of that from happening. If there was ever a time when Robert hated being a surgeon, it was right now. Because right now...Right now he didn't want to go. He wanted to stay here, with her, and be the guy that she needed him to be; he didn't want the guy that everyone else needed him to be. With a sigh, he told her, "I'm so sorry, April."

"Go, Robert. Seriously. Go be a doctor."

He kissed her gently before running to his car and pulling out of the driveway in lightning speed.

April watched him go before she sighed; soon all she stared into was darkness. Though it felt ominous, she wasn't afraid. Maybe it was because she stood on this porch - a place she knew she could call home if she needed to - or maybe it was because she had faith in him, that no matter what challenges were thrown Robert's way, he would always come back to her the same person.

He was home four hours later. He tried to come in without waking her, but it proved impossible to maneuver his way through the dark bedroom without turning a light on. So, instead of turning on the light which he would need to change, he threw his phone on the nightstand and fell in bed beside her, staring up at the ceiling like he had come home from the hardest day of work in his life.

When Robert sighed, he knew she was awake by the way she turned and rolled over to look at him. He didn't meet her gaze and asked, "How'd the rest of the party go?"

"Fine."

"Just fine?"

"Yeah. We chilled for a little after you left. Told stories, jokes, whatever," April told him before she yawned. Gently, she rested her hand on his chest. When he didn't look at her, she asked, "How was the surgery?"

"He didn't make it?"

"What?"

"Bled out," Robert answered with a heavy sigh. "Just...Just like that."

"Honey-"

"That's the second time this year."

April sighed heavily; he refused to look at her, like the last time he had lost someone. For a man who put up a facade in front of everyone else - who made them think that he didn't care - he really did care; it rocked him when he lost a patient, sent him in a downward spiral that lated only until he focused on his next patient. Every death was like losing a pat of himself - and it was only worse if he knew the kid, grew attached to the kid. If there was anything that their relationship had done on a professional arena, she was certain she helped his heart open. He wasn't as cold anymore, and she couldn't help but feel partially responsible. If it wasn't for her - her optimism and perky demeanor - he wouldn't be laying here now, exhausted and emotionally drained. Right now he'd be going to bed alone, but he'd be sleeping. He wouldn't be lying awake at night, wondering what he could have done differently.

"Hey."

He tilted his head to look at her. "Yeah?"

"You want to talk about it?"

Robert shook his head. "Not really." With a soft sigh, he turned so he was laying sideways and staring at her. "I want to hear more about what happened at the party."

"You didn't miss anything, honey, really. As soon as you left the party kind of died down. It wasn't anything big."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," she told him gently. It was clear to her that he didn't want to talk about the surgery - and she didn't want to talk about the party - so what else did they really have to talk about right now? April felt bad for shutting him down, for telling him that she really needed sleep for the shift in a few hours, but she couldn't help but scowl at the cold look in his eyes - like he was slowly building up his barriers again so it didn't hurt so much the next time.

"I'm sorry I woke you up."

"Will you stop?"

Robert only blinked before he stared back up at the ceiling. "Go back to bed, April."

"Will you sleep?"

"Maybe. But," he glanced at her, "you need to sleep for work tomorrow. And...And I do, too, so we should sleep."

She removed her hand from his chest and took his hand in hers; he wouldn't sleep tonight even though he insisted she slept. Just because she couldn't be awake and conscious of his pain, their hands kept them connected. She supported him, and knew he would be better tomorrow morning after his wounds had healed and his mind spent all night realizing that it wasn't his fault that the boy died, but some sick twist of fate.

"April?"

She was half-asleep when she heard him; blankly, she murmured, "Hm?"

"I'm going fishing with Derek Sheperd this weekend."

"What?"

"Fishing," he repeated. "With Derek Sheperd. This weekend."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Yes, really. I like to fish."

"Am I going to learn something new about you every day?" She smiled when he didn't answer, and instead continued to stare at the ceiling as his mind went to a different world, the surgical world where he replayed every movement, every cut, until he was certain that it wasn't his fault. there was nothing she could do for him now; the only thing capable of saving him was his memory and faith in his skills.

She fell asleep moments later.