Alright! Here's the next chapter. I really, really love all the reviews. Thank you! Now, I have a question… Should I include the rift between Meredith and Cristina? I wouldn't do it exactly like the show or not at all like the show, but it kinda does make sense that Mer and Cristina kind of drift apart… Let me know.
Chapter 13:
When Derek awoke the next morning there was an empty and cold spot next to him. Grumbling, he sits up at the edge of the bed and stretches. He walks over to the bathroom and freshens up quickly. Heading downstairs he hears the tv in the living room. Peeking in he sees Zola and Bailey watching "Paw Patrol." He watches them for a minute before a beautiful sound draws him towards the kitchen. Derek soon finds the source of the beautiful sound; his wife's giggle. Meredith is standing in the middle of his sisters and his mother, a spatula in one hand and holding onto a frying pan with the other. "Morning" he greets. They all look up and smile when they see him.
"Hey, Der!" Meredith grins widely. Derek squeezes between his sister and Meredith and kisses his wife on the cheek.
"Why are you holding a spatula, Mer?" He asks tentatively while looking into the pan. "That is not waffle mix or pancakes." He sounds worried as the only thing that Meredith was able to cook were pancakes and waffles, as long as it was the mix and that was only because he taught her.
Rolling her eyes Meredith explains, "it's an omelette, Derek. I tried to insist that I couldn't cook, but your mom and sisters insisted that I try."
Derek grows nervous. "I remember the last time you made eggs… Lexie got really sick."
"Shut up! I didn't know she was allergic. No one here is allergic and your sisters have been helping me and so has your mom."
"Yeah,Derek, have a little faith in your wife's cooking skills." Nancy teases.
"It will just be more for us." Lizzie adds.
"Oh, I have faith in my wife, she just has been known to set off the smoke detector." He laughs good naturally. Derek meets Meredith's eyes and smiles. "Love you" he leans in and whispers.
Meredith puts down the spatula and turns towards him. She slowly wraps her arms around his waist, "love you too" she says softly. They lock eyes and Derek pulls her close, he rests his hands on the small of her back, bends down and kisses her passionately. His sisters and mom watch the interaction. Each one notices how happy their brother is, they had not seen this in a long time.
"You guys can wait a few more hours before you do that, couldn't you? We're hungry!" Nancy jokes.
Rolling his eyes, Derek starts, "well, if she had woken up next to me we wouldn't have to have this conversation now, would we?" He bumps his sister playfully.
"I'm sorry, Derek, that was my fault. Zola was awake, asking for Meredith so I went in and let Zola wake her up." Carolyn explains.
He turns his attention to Meredith now. "Did Zo wake you up too early? You can go back to sleep if you need." His blue eyes filled with concern, knowing full well that they did not go to bed as early as his family thought.
"I'm good, Der. We have only been up for about 45 minutes now." She says, smiling and turning back to her omelette. Derek smiles as he watches his wife, she does look rested. Feeling confident that she got enough sleep, he heads into the living room.
"Morning Zo, Bailey!" He greets them with a large smile. The kids turn and are beyond excited that their daddy is awake. Derek envelopes both of them into a large bear hug eliciting lots of giggles. After placing several kisses on each of their little faces he sits down with one baby on each side of him and watches "Paw Patrol" with them. Meredith quietly walks in when breakfast is ready and when she sees Derek in the middle of the couch with his right arm around Zola and her head resting in the crook of his arm and Bailey snuggled on his left side, her heart flutters. Grabbing her phone she takes a few pictures. Then, she walks around the couch and sits on Bailey's other side.
"Mama!" Bailey coos from his spot on his daddy's stomach.
"Hey little man! You look all comfy." Meredith says as she tickles his belly.
"Uh huh!" Nods Bailey as he pats Derek's shirt.
Meredith smiles at Derek while caressing his cheek and let's them know breakfast is ready. She leads two excited kids and a skeptical husband into the kitchen. He is met with some wonderful smells. Each plate on the table is filled with a cheese omelette, toast and fruit. Coffee, with steam rising from each mug sits next to the adults plates and apple juice filled cups sit next to the kids plates. Derek looks pleasantly surprised as he sits down. "Wow, Mer, you did all this?" He asks.
"Yes" she giggles as she watches him take a bite. She gets an even bigger smile as Derek smiles when he tastes the omelette.
"Meredith!" He says reverently. "This is delicious!" She blushes and thanks him, proud that she made something else he could enjoy.
"These are really great, Meredith." Kathleen compliments and Nancy, Lizzie and Carolyn nod in agreement. Even Zola and Bailey tell her how "yummy" their eggs taste.
Feeling really grateful that her cooking was a success, Meredith scoots closer to Derek, looking up at him. Today they were going to spend time with the family and then at night, her and Derek were going to begin their "48 uninterrupted hours." To say she was excited would be an understatement. Meredith couldn't remember the last time her and Derek really had alone time without the threat of pagers or kids for longer than 12 hours. She was downright ecstatic. Talk turned to the days plans. Their first stop they planned was The giant Toys r Us, as Derek's sisters insisted on spoiling their niece and nephew. Lunch was going to be in the West Village followed by the Central Park Zoo. They figured going around like that would be a good compromise between the kids getting to see a little bit of the city and not messing up Derek's plans for the two of them. Then they would come back to the house where Zola and Bailey would stay with Carolyn and their aunts while Meredith and Derek went out on their special 2 days away. After everyone was finished eating, they headed up stairs to get dressed. One hour later everyone was ready and beginning to meet by the door.
"Oh, how cute! Look at this, Nan." Kate cries as she watches Derek walk downstairs with Bailey. Derek had on jeans and his favorite button down with a sweater pulled over and Bailey wore the same exact thing- color and all.
Kate looks at her brother and nephew. "I have to take pictures of this. Oh, speaking on pictures, Nancy, can you grab the photos on the coffee table and put them in my purse?" Nancy nods and goes to get them as Kate takes a picture. Derek laughs at his sister as he watches Meredith come down with Zola. They are both wearing jeans, a sweater and converse. Meredith looks at Derek and Bailey smiling at the cuteness and then bites her lip. This is one of her favorite outfits on Derek and it's all she can do not to jump him at this very moment.
"I can't wait to get that shirt off of you, Der." She whispers seductively in his ear so Bailey won't hear. Derek breathes heavy and grins slyly at Meredith.
"Soon, Mer." He answers.
Glancing at him one last time she then turns towards Bailey. "You look so cute buddy, you are dressed like daddy!"
Bailey smiles widely at his mom. "Ya, I look like daddy!" He giggles happily.
"Everyone ready to go?" Carolyn asks picking up her purse. All the adults agree and they walk out to the car. They head into the city and weave through the busy streets. Derek and Meredith each sit next to a child, who have the window seats and point out different sites. Carolyn finds valet parking near Toys r Us and they all get out and walk through the crowded Times Square.
"Wow, look, mommy!" Zola squeals. She points out the Times Square Tower, complete with its flashing lights. Zola watches it, entranced as Meredith leads her along.
"Isn't it neat, Zo?" Meredith asks. "This is where the ball drops on New Years Eve and it's a very famous building." Explains Meredith.
"What's that building, mama?" Wonders Zola.
"That's the Empire State Building. One of the tallest in the world."
"Wow!" Zola says softly, totally at awe with the magical city. Her eyes were wide with curiosity as they navigated their way to the toy store.
At last, they came upon the largest Toys r Us Zola, Bailey or anyone had ever seen. As they walked through the funny round a bout doors a burst of cold air greeted them. Looking up, right in front of them stood a huge Ferris wheel. The kids and Meredith stopped in their tracks and their mouths fell open.
"Holy crap!" Muttered Meredith.
"Daddy, we needs to go on that!" Bailey says matter of factly. Laughing, Derek agrees, he would do anything to make his wife and kids happy. Especially when he knew Meredith has never had any kind of experience like this before. They get on the ride which has different style cars that looked like cars from different cartoons instead of the normal Ferris wheel cars. Derek sits across from Meredith and the kids who are sitting on either side of her and takes pictures. His heart fills with joy and happiness at how much fun, Meredith especially, is having. When the ride is over they begin exploring. The first section they see is a huge "Barbie" sign on top a huge Barbie Dream-house.
"Mama! Daddy! Can we go there? Pwease?" Zola cries.
"Of course, Zo. Meredith smiles down at her daughter. Zola leads the way, pulling Meredith behind her. All the adults watch as Zola runs from tower to tower that has Barbies, accessories, cars, Barbie dogs and so much more. As Meredith watches she wraps her arms around Derek who pulls her close and kisses her forehead, letting his lips linger. "Der, if I tell you something, you have to promise not to tell anyone, especially Cristina" she says quietly.
"Of course, Mer, what is it?" He looks down at her, worried.
"I have always wanted to come here, to this toy store in particular and I think I'm enjoying this more than surgery." Meredith says.
Derek feels himself smile larger than he thinks he has ever smiled. He is more happy than when he solved those impossible cases or when he got rid of Isaac's tumor. "That's wonderful, Mer! I won't tell."
"Hmm, thanks." Meredith says gratefully. They watch as Zola holds almost every doll in her hands, hands shaking with joy. When she has completely exhausted that section, they move on to the next. Huge stuffed animals line shelves and the walls, creating a zoo atmosphere. Bailey and Zola run in either direction checking out the different sized dogs, cats, bears, lions and every animal imaginable. After that came a Disney section, Paw Patrol section, baby dolls; in a section that looked like a hospital nursery and a superhero section. The kids suckered their aunts and grandmother into buying quite a lot. Zola got some stuffed animals, a baby doll with new clothes, carrier and new baby bottles and Lizzie bought her a doctor Barbie. Bailey got a new Mickey Mouse play set, Other Disney character figurines, a zoo play set and a stuffed zebra. Meredith and Derek got sucked into buying Bailey a large stuffed dog that definitely needed to be shipped home. Derek claimed that Bailey gave him the same smile Meredith gives and he can't say no to that. Meredith said that Bailey looked at her with that sparkle in his eyes that she cannot resist. All's Zola had to do was smile at Derek and giggle that cute little giggle Meredith loves while saying "please" to get a similar sized stuffed lion as well. They walk out the door with bags in hand, on to the next stop. They get in the car and Derek leans back and hands Meredith a bag.
"For me?" She asks as she looks at him curiously. Meredith reaches in and pulls out a little, brown teddy bear. "Oh, Derek!" She shakes her head. "Thank you."
Turning around and whispering he says, "you've always wanted to come here. You should have something to remember it by." He grabs her hand and kisses her fingers softly and Meredith shivers with the feelings he is sending through her body.
"So, where did you want to go for lunch?" Carolyn asks as she looks in the rear view mirror.
"Oh, the Village has this adorable Italian place, it's so fancy…" Kate starts before Derek cuts her off.
"Kate, there is no need for a fancy lunch, we have a four and two year old. How about John's Pizzeria?" Kathleen huffs as Carolyn agrees with Derek and heads towards the Village. They reach their destination and head up to the restaurant.
"Can't go to New York and not get pizza, even for me" laughs Derek as he wraps Meredith in his arms from behind as they walk. The kids are walking with their nana, so the two of them are taking advantage of the chance to be in each other's arms. He peppers kisses all along her cheek as they walk inside. It's a quiet little place, simple, nothing extravagant.
"Derek, can't you keep your hands off of her for one minute?" Nancy jokes. Meredith giggles and holds Derek closer but before Derek can retort, Zola answers.
"They always like dat. Auntie Cwistina says dat to dem too. But it's cause dey in love." She says matter of factly.
"That's right Zola." Derek praises and smirks at his sister. He holds out the chair for Meredith and they sit down, opening their menus. Meredith's mouth waters as she reads her choices. Eventually it's decided on a salad to share and a slice of pizza for everyone. Derek watches as Meredith takes her first bite of her steaming, meat lovers pizza. He listens to her moan and really wishes his family wasn't there with them right now. He reminds himself it's only a few more hours and takes a bite of his vegetable pizza.
"Oh, Mer, I almost forgot!" Kathleen shrieks, putting down her pizza. She reaches into her purse and pulls out some pictures. "You said you wanted to see pictures of Derek dressed up, so I found these before I went to bed last night."
"Oh! No!" Derek groans, closing his eyes.
Laughing, Meredith takes the pictures. "Thanks, Kate." She smiles when she looks at the first one. Derek is about three years old, from what she can tell, he's sitting upon a man's shoulders. He is wearing a Prince Charming costume and with his thick, dark curls he looks like a natural. Derek's blue eyes stand out in the pictures, they are the same as Bailey's and the man in the photograph. "Is this your dad, Derek?"
Leaning over, Derek nods "yes" before the words can find their way out of his mouth. She grabs his hand and squeezes comfortingly.
The second picture was an older Derek, about six years old. He was wearing the same costume and had a scowl on his face and his arms are crossed against his chest. Amy and Lizzie dressed in their princess dresses are smiling widely on either side of him. "I remember this year, I wanted to be Captain Hook."
"I know dear, but your sisters needed their prince," Carolyn comments.
Meredith laughs, she leans over to Zola. "Zo, look at the picture, it's daddy."
"Woah, daddy, you look handsome. You dressed like Bailey! Were you at Disney?"
"I was Zo, and there is your Aunt Lizzie and Aunt Amy. They dressed up like a princess like you!" Zola's eyes went wide at the thought of her father and her aunts at any other stage than being a grown up.
"Kate…can we keep these?" Meredith asks, biting her tongue, trying not to laugh.
"Meredith!" Derek says quickly.
"Please Derek." She smiles at him and looks at him while running her hand up his thigh.
Shaking his head he smirks and sighs. "Fine. But you can't show Cristina OR Karev."
"Fine. I will just show April… Oh! Definitely Callie also." She watches him squirm.
"Meredith!"
"Oh, Derek, I won't show anyone. You don't have to worry." Meredith strokes his cheek and he presses his weight into her hand. She smiles and puts the pictures in her purse.
"Thank you Meredith." Derek says softly.
"I want to keep them because I think you look adorable and it's nice to have pictures to show the kids, as you know there are none of me from when I was little" she explains.
"Ok" Derek softly agrees as he leans in to kiss her. They all finish their food quickly. As they walk back into the busy city, Derek sees something out of the corner of his eye. He knows exactly where he is taking Meredith for lunch tomorrow or the next day if they aren't out of bed at lunch tomorrow.
"We go to zoo now, nana?" Bailey asks Carolyn.
"Yes, sweetie." Carolyn and Bailey begin to talk about the zoo and how excited everyone was as they climb into the car. The ride is rather quick to the Central Park Zoo with the adults talking and the kids eventually checking out their new toys. After the car was parked, Meredith and Derek began to get the kids out of the car as the two little ones are debating what they would visit first. Zola wanted the lions and Bailey wanted to see the monkeys. Laughing, Meredith just told them that they would start in one direction and make their way around.
"Did you come here a lot, Derek?" She asked while they walked down the dirt path. There were cages of many different types of animals on either side. Some were sleeping and some were standing. There were even some that seemed to be watching the people.
"Yes, at least once a month. I loved coming here." Meredith looks up at him, listening attentively. They keep an eye on Zola and Bailey who are dragging Kate and Lizzie towards a cage with tigers. "Our dad would take us, give ma a break. We would make sure to get to every animal." He smiles as he remembers. " Then we would go get a hot dog out in the regular park and just run and play."
"That… Sounds amazing, Derek. I think your dad sounds a lot like you. I would have liked to meet him."
"He would have loved you, Mer. I wish you could have met him." He smiles reverently at her.
"Mama! Come look!" Zola runs quickly towards Meredith, a smile spread across her face.
"What do you see, Zo?" Asks Meredith.
"Lions! They look like my sleepy time lion." Zola and Meredith look at the large lion exhibit. There are 3 female lions and one male lion. Playing around in the pen are several lion cub, each one was tan and furry. One of them had a black fur spot on the top of his head.
"Oh look, Zola, the mommy lion is going to clean her baby. Bailey, come here." She says as they watch the lioness pick up a cub and cradle it between her long front legs. The lion begins to lick the baby and Meredith and the kids just watch and laugh.
"Dat's so silly, mama!" Bailey squeals as he watches.
Derek looks on, always entranced watching Meredith interact with their children. She looked so carefree, so natural and he couldn't wait to have more. He listens to Zola and Bailey begin to have a conversation about which lion cub looks more like Kion and other characters from "The Lion Guard." It's sweet to listen to their reasonings, these are much better disagreements to have, Derek thinks.
They move along to the next animals, the kids discussing their favorite animals. "Oh, Derek! Can we get some ice cream?!" Meredith asks suddenly when she sees the vendor.
"I think so… Do you think the Zola and Bailey would want any?" Derek playfully jokes. The kids stop in their tracks when they hear their names and "ice cream" in the same sentence.
Meredith meets Derek's eyes, knowing what he was doing. "Hmm, I don't know, I think they just wanna see the animals." Bailey and Zola look at each other in shock.
"I want ice cream!" Zola says, her hands on her hips.
Bailey wraps his little arms around Derek's leg, "me too, daddy!"
"Oh, you guys do, huh?" Derek says, lifting his son up and kissing his cheek. "Well, I guess we could get you some." He makes a show of pretending it's a hassle. "Hey ma, Mer and the kids want some ice cream, do you guys want any?"
"That sounds lovely dear." Carolyn replies gently.
Heading over to the nearest ice cream stand, the kids run hand in hand in front of their parents. The metal cart is decorated with cardboard zoo animals hanging by strings. Toy giraffes and rhino's are scattered about. Stacks of ice cream cups are seen behind the register. Choices of cones sit inside a plastic box. Fun looking purple, pink and blue zoo themed cups also sit to the side of the register. "Ok everyone lets get some ice cream!" Derek exclaims. Zola and Bailey both order chocolate ice cream in a colored sprinkle cone. Derek gets him and Meredith a cup of vanilla, with extra strawberries on Meredith's. Two other chocolate ice creams and two swirl ice creams are ordered for the others. They sit at one of the picnic benches to eat. Chocolate is covering the kids faces as they crunch into their cones, the colors of the sprinkles spreading and mixing with the chocolate. "What animal do we wanna see next?" Derek asks Bailey who has his little mouth full to the brim.
"Mo-teys" He says while chewing.
"Monkeys huh, Bails?" Asks Meredith. The boy nods vigorously at his mother.
"So, kids, what are your favorite animals?" Asked Nancy.
"Monkeys!" Bailey says seriously. He looks at his aunt like it's the most obvious thing on the planet and tries to roll his eyes. Derek has to really try hard not to laugh at that.
"I like the lions." Zola says sweetly.
"Those are both fun animals. Why do you like them?" Replies Nancy.
"They silly and like bananas, like me" Bailey says with a grin, causing the whole table to laugh.
Zola shrugs,"I like lions cause daddy gots me a stuffed lion once, the one I sleep with and I saw one when I was a baby."
"Zola, you remember that?!" Meredith asks incredulously.
"Little bit, mama, and I heard you and daddy talking."
Meredith and Derek stare at each other. "Our daughter is a genius." Derek exclaims.
"What is she remembering, Meredith ?" Kate asks.
"A couple of years ago there was a lion loose in Seattle and it happened to run in front of our car. Zola saw it first. She explains.
"Wow, that sounds scary! You are such a smart girl Zo." Carolyn adds. Zola smiles and continues with her ice cream. "What happened to the lion?"
"Well, it apparently was someone's pet and animal control got it and took it away." Derek tells his mom, turning to her and continuing on with the rest of the story.
Mama, I'm all done!" Bailey looks at her proudly, his hands and mouth covered in chocolate and sprinkles.
"You are baby. It looks like you enjoyed it." Bailey nods, hands sticking together as he claps. Derek turns around and smiles at Meredith lovingly.
"I think we need a picture." He notes as he sees Zola covered as well. "Bailey, give your sister a hug." Derek grabs his camera and aims. Zola and Bailey close their arms around the others neck, their little cheeks pressed against each other. "Say cheese!"
"Cheese!" They cry happily. Meredith and Derek look on with awe at their kids.
"We need a copy of that, Der." Meredith proudly states. Derek nods and they begin cleaning the stickiness off their hands and faces. Cleaning the table around them, they all head back into the zoo. The kids walk in front keeping a lookout for the monkey exhibit. They stop off at a snake cage, a leopard exhibit and some hippos. Finally, they reach the monkeys. The cage was about ten feet high and was closed on top. It had nets covering the iron bars. Bailey stared with an "o" shaped mouth as he watched six monkeys play around the cage. They were swinging, hanging and one was starting at the people scratching his head. Derek scoops Bailey up and guides Zola while walking over to the cage. They chat away about what's is happening in the cage. Meredith takes this chance and walks over to Lizzie and Nancy who were standing closest to her. "Umm… Guys." She starts nervously. "I want to ask this quickly, I don't want Derek to know." Meredith whispers close and looking over to make sure Derek was still distracted with the kids. Continuing when she sees them listening to her intensely, "I wanna get him something special for our couple days alone, but I don't shop, so if I tell him I want to shop he's gonna get suspicious… I just wanna get something and was hoping you had an idea on how to distract him." Meredith rambles.
Lizzie smiles, "of course Mer. Gladly."
"There's a play park near here on Madison that Derek used to take our kids to,he can take them and we can grab some coffee." Nancy suggests.
"It will be sister time!" Lizzie squeals and claps her hands.
"Oh, crap, what did I do?" Thinks Meredith as she grins widely, "yeah, sounds great!"
They walk closer to the monkey cage where Meredith wraps her arms around Derek's waist from behind. Derek smiles and looks back at her, pressing his body into hers. He watches as she reaches up to tickle Bailey, loving the giggles she gets to come out of their son. They watch the monkeys goof around for a few more minutes before moving to the next destination. Derek and Meredith take turns explaining facts about giraffes, Tigers, penguins and turtles as they stop at each one. Zola asks a million questions, each one pretty elaborate, causing them to think a minute before answering. Derek's sisters and mother just watch the family, smiling when Zola comes running up shouting, "did you know…?!" And "guess what daddy told me!" It was easy for them to tell how wonderful the four of them were together, that their son and brother was exactly where he belonged. At about 4:00 they find themselves at the end of the park.
"Hey, Der, since we are by Madison Avenue we need to take Meredith into at least one store, it's a must in the city." Lizzie begins.
Nancy helps her sister by adding, "why don't you and ma take the kids to your favorite park for half an hour and we will meet you there?"
Derek looks skeptically at his sister. "It's up to you Mer" He asks quietly.
Pretending to think about it, she answers, "well…I guess it's okay. It will be good sister bonding or whatever. Meredith smiles confidently at her husband.
Smiling widely, he pulls her into a tight hug. "I'm proud of you, Mer." He whispers. Continuing that tone he adds, "just two more hours then it will be just us!" Derek bites her ear playfully and Meredith breathes in deeply, getting anxious for alone time with her husband. Bailey and Zola are excited about the prospect of a playground and bounce along with Derek and Carolyn each holding tightly to a hand.
"Ok, Mer, as much as I'm afraid to ask, it being my brother and all, what did you have in mind." Kate asks.
She turns red, "you guys don't have to help if you don't want… I can just run inside…I know you don't want to think of your brother like that and.. I…" She continues her ramble for a minute before Nancy stops her.
"Meredith, relax! It's ok, we don't mind. Lizzie and Amy are younger than me as well. We have helped them with things like this as well." She holds onto Meredith's shoulders and looks into her eyes, smiling surprisingly reassuringly.
"It's what sisters are for, Mer." Kathleen adds, smiling.
"Ok…" Meredith replies shocked at how welcomed she feels in that moment and begins walking when Nancy turns and walks towards Madison Avenue. They reach a small boutique, filled with lacy and sheer sleepwear. Meredith smirks, knowing exactly what she's getting. She runs over to a table of lacy thongs with matching bras, "what do you guys think of these?"
"They are definitely hot, Mer." Lizzie suggests.
Meredith sighs with content and pics two sets. She heads over to a rack with some silk robes and very sheer nighties and picks one of each. The sisters watch, amused, as Meredith heads over to another table, this time with teddies. Meredith knew these were Derek's favorite, but his sisters did not need to know that. She picked one in his favorite color and it was almost completely see through from the breasts to the stomach with shiny material on the sides and back. "Derek will love this!" Meredith thinks to herself. Then, she heads to pay for the items no motions for the three sisters to come follow her. They head for a quick stop at the car. The suitcases had been placed in the trunk that morning, so Meredith put her purchases in her bag. They walk over to the playground and see Carolyn and Derek chatting away. Zola is going down a slide and Bailey is playing in the sand. There are loads of other children on swings, playing tag and hanging upside down on the jungle gym.
"Hey!" Lizzie shouts getting her mother and brothers attention. The two turn and smile when they see them coming.
"Did you have fun?" Derek wonders. Meredith nods and sits beside him letting him pull her close. They sit and chat for a while, watching the kids play. Meredith finds herself feeling right at home. Carolyn and Kate keep asking her opinion on things and Lizzie and Nancy kept asking about facts about the kids. Derek holds her as he listens to his sister make his Meredith laugh at some joke she was telling. He knew she would fit right in and it makes his heart soar to see the most important people in his life talk and laugh together. Bailey and Zola come running up after they ended up playing for an hour more once the girls got back.
"Mama! Daddy, we're hungry!" Bailey whines. Looking at his watch, Derek sees that it's 5:30.
"Ok you two. It's time anyway for you to head back to nana's. Mama and I are going to spend time with each other and you guys are gonna hang with your nana and aunties." He explains.
"But daddy… We wanna stay with you!" Cries Zola.
"Oh, ZoZo, we'll be back. You guys are gonna have a sleepover like with Auntie Cristina, Auntie Callie and when Auntie Amy watches you." Meredith soothes.
Zola sniffles, "do they know how to play surgy?" She asks referring to her favorite game.
Laughing Meredith answers, "probably, you can ask or show them if not. I'm sure nana will bake something with you guys maybe." Zola lights up at the thought.
"Ok!" She nods determined.
"Come here love bug, Bails." Meredith holds out her arms for her kids. "I love you two, go have some fun, be good, okay?"
"Otay, mama. Love you." Bailey whispers. They go over to Derek who has his arms open ready for a hug. They say their goodbyes and Meredith and Derek head to the car to get their bags. They walk quickly, almost in a run away from the group. Derek subtly grazing Meredith bottom with his hand.
"Derek!" She squeals and laughs.
Placing his hands on her waist, he says huskily, "I can't help it Meredith. You are so damn sexy." His words cause a shiver to run down Meredith's spine.
Reaching the car, Meredith spins around pulling Derek close, cupping his cheeks and kissing him hard. With her husbands chest pressed against hers she gazes into his eyes. "Take me away, Derek!"
"Gladly, Mer." He says licking his lips. They grab their bags and hail a cab. Their 48 uninterrupted hours are finally beginning.