A/N: next chapter will post tonight... it's not safe for work!
Arizona is dropping Sofia off at daycare the next morning when Meredith enters with Bailey and Ellis.
"Good morning!" Arizona says turning around to greet her. They both share an amused smile when Sofia walks over to Bailey and helps him take off his coat.
"Sofia, thank you for helping Bailey with his coat, " Meredith says smiling at the little girl.
"Sofia can you hang up your coat and help Bailey with his?" Arizona asks holding out the little coat for her daughter to take with her to the coat room.
"Yes Momma," Sofia says taking her coat, then she adds, "Come on Bailey," and leads him over to the coat room.
Arizona helps Meredith get Ellis out of her coat and Jamie, the daycare attendant, takes the baby carrier to put it away.
Before she leaves, Arizona thanks Jamie for taking Sofia overnight. Then she follows Meredith out of the daycare room.
In the hallway, out of view of the daycare, Meredith takes Arizona's hand and sweetly says, "Good Morning."
Arizona stops and pulls her back into her arms playfully kissing her.
"Hmm, good morning," Meredith replies laughing as she returns the kiss.
"Ahem," Owen clears his throat as he approaches them.
"Morning Owen," Meredith says as they turn to walk towards the elevator.
"Good morning, I, uh, see that the rumors are true," he says with a smirk as he passes them.
Arizona watches him leave and turns to Meredith, "I can never tell if he is amused or annoyed," she remarks.
"Typical Owen," Meredith replies laughing.
"Alex said that you've been helping Jo with the food for the party?" Arizona asks when she runs into to Callie that afternoon.
"Not exactly, I just introduced her to Layla, the woman with the food truck that's always here on Saturdays, she agreed to do the food and drop it off since she can still work her truck afterward." Callie explains.
"I love her food, that should be great," Arizona replies. "So do you have a date tonight?" she asks.
"Nah and I'm surprisingly okay with it," Callie admits. Then turning to her ex, she asks curiously, "How are you? And are you ready to debut your relationship tonight?"
"I'm good. But I'm a little nervous about tonight, I mean it's one thing when we are by ourselves, but when we're around the hospital or people from the hospital it still feels weird, like I keep thinking Derek's going to show up and this will have all been some sort of really odd dream or something." Arizona confesses.
"Have you mentioned it to Meredith?" Callie asks.
"Oh god no, she seems fine with everything. I just need to get more comfortable with it; we're still pretty new," Arizona points out.
"Nervous?" Arizona asks as they get into the cab.
"About the party, a little. Are you?" she asks.
"A little, I mean a lot of these people still see you as Derek's widow," Arizona replies worriedly.
"Thanks to you, I haven't felt like a widow in months," Meredith replies kissing her lightly on the lips.
"Meredith, I need you to know that my only expectation tonight is that we enjoy ourselves and there's no pressure for anything else to happen," Arizona says seriously.
"Arizona, you worry too much," Meredith says leaning in and kissing her lightly. "Please relax and let's just celebrate the beginning of us and the fact that Alex and Jo finally got it together and are engaged!"
Their cab pulls up and as they exit, Maggie and DeLuca pull up together in Maggie's car with Andrew driving.
"I see that we're not the only couple coming out tonight," Meredith says teasing her sister.
"Funny Meredith. We are both on-call tonight, so we just rode here together," Maggie explains, dropping Andrew's hand that she just realized she was holding.
"Wait, i thought you guys were going to file the relationship contract with HR," Arizona says looking from Maggie to Andrew to Meredith.
DeLuca shrugs as if to say it's out of his hands.
"Not yet," Maggie replies glaring at Meredith. "And someone needs to stop leaving copies of it on my bed."
"Sneaking around is only fun for so long, you'll see," Meredith says knowingly.
"Hey come in, come in," Alex says opening the door. "Whoa, Maggie!" he says giving her a hug, "You look great and I see you finally let your intern out of the on-call room," he whispers in her ear.
"Shut it Alex!" she exclaims smacking his shoulder. "We're on call tonight so we just rode over together
Laughing he turns to Arizona and Meredith, "Wow, you two look fantastic tonight, I'm glad that you made it," he says giving each one a hug.
"Where's Jo?" Arizona asks looking around the loft.
"She and Torres just got out of surgery so they're running late," he explains. "But the caterer chick is here and April's helping her set up."
"I'll go see if I can help," Arizona says letting go of Meredith's hand and leaving her and Alex together.
"So how is it going?" Alex asks.
"It's good," Meredith replies. "I still kind of freak out when I think about it though. I mean how is it I didn't know this about myself?" she asks him.
"Maybe it's situational?" he suggests.
"Situational? You mean that it's just her that I'm attracted too?" Meredith asks.
"Yeah, I don't know how this stuff works but I could see that being a thing," he replies shrugging.
"Hmm, I guess I'll find out soon," Meredith replies.
"No details, she's my boss and you're both my friends, I'd prefer not to think about either of you having sex especially with each other!" He says leading her over to where he set up the bar. "Tequila?" he asks holding up a brand new bottle.
"I won't need any tequila tonight," she says not taking her eyes off Arizona. "Just wine please."
Finally Jo shows up and Alex goes over to greet her with a kiss and everyone starts congratulating them.
Callie slips in behind them and stops to drop her coat onto the bed before heading over for a glass of wine.
"Excuse me," Jo says to her guests as she grabs Alex's arm, "I just need a minute to talk to my fiance," she says pulling him out into the hall.
"What? Everything's going well. Kepner and Arizona helped set the food out and..." he stops talking when Jo starts kissing him.
"I love you," she says. "Everything looks fantastic and I just wanted to say that before we get swept up in the party."
"I love you too," he replies returning the kiss.
"Ahem," Bailey and Ben say as they approach them in the hall.
"Oh hey," Alex says as they break apart. "Jo just got here," he explains.
Bailey shakes her head and Alex opens the door for them, "We'll be right in, coats on the bed and the bar is in front of the food," he says after them.
Jo kisses him one more time then looks down at her jeans and says, "I need to get changed."
Callie walks over to her and hands her a glass of wine.
"You were right, I should have taken my dress to work today," Jo replies.
"Look grab your stuff and head into the bathroom, I'll cover you," Callie laughs and takes another sip of wine.
"Karev, have you guys set a date yet?" Bailey asks.
"No, she wants to wait until after her boards," he replies.
"She's still going to apply for the Ortho fellowship though, right?" Arizona asks.
"Yeah, of course. She's planning to stay at Sloan-Grey," he replies looking at Bailey.
"Good, now I just need to find out what Edwards is planning to do," Bailey replies.
"I think she's done great work with Shepherd, but I'd like to get her back in peds," Arizona says, "I think that she'd be an awesome Fetal surgeon and my first fellowship starts in September."
"Well, I like that idea Robbins, talk to her soon and get her locked in," Bailey replies taking a sip of her wine.
Ben pulls Alex aside from the group to give him some advice.
"Karev, don't let her pick Torres as a bridesmaid, she almost ruined our wedding when she told Miranda to run, " Ben points out.
"You're joking?" Maggie asks, overhearing the conversation.
"No, he's not. I did say that to her, but that's not exactly how it went, right Miranda? " Callie says looking over to the smaller woman for help.
"Torres, you told me to run." Bailey replies, then adds, "I was nervous, it being my second wedding and all, but I would have been there on time if Adele Webber hadn't of ended up in the ER," she explains.
"Excuse me," Miranda says to the group as she spots Meredith leaving the bathroom.
"Meredith," Bailey says approaching her and then pausing a minute to think of how to say what she wants to say.
"Miranda, just say it, I'm in my happy place, I can take it," Meredith says amused to see her mentor speechless.
"Ok, so I have to admit that it's taking some getting used to; seeing you and Arizona together and everything. But I am happy for you both and it's good to see you both happy," she finally blurts out.
"Thanks Miranda," she replies. "For the first time in months I feel like me again. I really didn't think I'd find this with anyone ever again," Meredith confesses. Then leaning in she hugs her and says, "Happy New Year Miranda."
"Happy New Year Meredith," Bailey replies turning to watch her cross the room to join Arizona by the window.
Arizona wraps an arm around her and leans over to kiss her cheek, before laughing and nodding over to where Jackson and April are trying to dance, "I think April's had a bit too much wine."
"Jo's ring is beautiful, you must have helped him pick it out," Callie asks coming over to join them by the window.
"He actually picked out three beautiful rings, I just helped him decide which one to get," Meredith admits.
"Well, I'm just really happy for them," Arizona replies.
"Me too." Maggie says joining them. "Uh, Callie can I talk to you a minute?"
"Sure," Callie says and they step away a moment.
Arizona turns to Meredith and asks, "Oh, your glass is empty. Do want another one?"
"No, they'll be opening champagne soon, it's almost midnight," Meredith says turning to look around the room, she notices that Maggie is looking at her phone.
Arizona notices too and whispers into Meredith's ear, "Hey do you think we can get Maggie to take us home? I'm worried that it will take all night to get a cab in this neighborhood."
"Let me go check with her," she says. I'm kind of surprised that they're still here, but it is a clear night, so the ER is probably slow still. I'll be right back."
Arizona heads over to say goodbye to Jackson and wish him luck with April and then Meredith catches her hand as she turns to leave.
"They're about to go, do you think we can slip out before they notice?" Meredith asks.
"Um, I say we find out," Arizona says. "And tell DeLuca to grab our coats!"
Meredith steps back over to where Maggie and Andrew are and makes the request. He smiles and heads over to the bed to find the coats.