A/N1: I'm not sure I'd get used to such fast updates. I always try to make sure I have at least three chapters banked before I post a new chapter, and it just so happens I've been writing a lot lately – I have the next several chapters plotted out in pretty good detail as well. Also, I'm going to D.C. next week (with Derek! … If only), so I probably won't update much, if at all, next week, so I want to update as much as possible this week!

She didn't bother waiting for Edwards. Instead, she began prepping her patient, a forty-three year old female who was having a laparoscopic gallbladder removal. The patient was already ready to be rolled into the operating room when Edwards entered the room.

"You've already prepped her?" Dr. Edwards asked. "Look, Dr. Grey, I'm sorry about…"

"It's already forgotten," Meredith cut in, and gave Stephanie a faux smile. The truth was, it wasn't forgotten. She would never forget that Dr. Bailey had taken her surgery. It was done. It was over. And there was nothing she could do about it now. Meredith knew it was her own fault. She should have checked her messages. She should have let Stephanie know she was running late. It wasn't like her not to communicate with her colleagues when she was running late, but she'd been so preoccupied.

The truth was Amelia was a distraction. She claimed she was trying to help, but really she was clouding Meredith's judgment. She'd just shown up, without a head's up, and asked her to adopt her baby. And now she was trying to act like her being there was a good thing. She was trying to make it seem like she actually cared about the people here. And now she was working at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

What the Hell had Meredith gotten herself into?

She was beginning to wish that she'd followed Derek's orders and had told Amelia to go home. Meredith was just trying to be nice to Amelia, though. She was Derek's family. His blood. Meredith hadn't been very welcoming to Derek's family in the past. She and Lizzie had butted heads last year, though Meredith had later realized Lizzie had a point. They were Derek's sisters. Lizzie had donated part of her nerves so Derek could feel in his hand again. It was because of her that Derek could even operate. Hell, Derek wouldn't have even gotten this offer with the president if it weren't for Lizzie. And life would be so much simpler.

The bottom line: They were his family.

Also, Meredith missed Lexie, and part of her felt as if she was using Amelia to substitute the piece of her soul that had gone missing when Lexie died. It'd taken her a long time to let Lexie in. Meredith wasn't used to having a family. Blood hadn't meant anything to her when she was growing up. The term family was so foreign. But then she learned to love Lexie. Lexie had been a good sister, and no one could replace her.

But that piece in Meredith's heart was still missing, and having Amelia in Seattle, spending time with her kids, in a way, filled that emptiness she felt.

Though she couldn't accept the fact that Amelia intended to drop her own child on Meredith and Derek's doorstep and disappear. Meredith could tell that Amelia genuinely cared about her niece and nephew, even though she barely knew them. She also seemed to genuinely care about her brother, although the jealousy was in plain sight. Meredith just couldn't wrap her finger around what in Amelia's head would give her the impression that Meredith and Derek were a better fit to raise her child than she herself.

It was a smooth surgery. She barely spoke to Stephanie other than to tell her what to do.

Meredith had about an hour before Derek was scheduled to arrive at the airport. She checked her phone and saw she had a text from Cristina that had been sent only three minutes prior.

Cristina: Going to grab food. Want to join me?

Her stomach rumbled. She hadn't eaten since breakfast, and the egg taste still lingered on her taste buds. Meredith texted back. Meredith: Don't have much time, but would love to catch up. Meet in the cafeteria?

Cristina texted back almost instantly. Cristina: Sounds great!

First, Meredith had to drop off some extra gloves to the supply closet. From outside the closet, she could hear voices.

"How could she do this to me?" she heard Alex crying loudly. His voice was raspy, like he'd been crying. "Who does that? Who doesn't tell a man he has a kid? How could she?"

Crap, Meredith thought, realizing Izzie must have told Alex the truth about Blake. Of course he was upset. He had every right to be upset. Meredith's heart ached for Alex.

"I don't know," Meredith heard Jo say softly. "I don't know."

Meredith smiled weakly because Jo was comforting him. Although she wondered what was going through Jo's mind. It couldn't be easy for her. After all, Izzie wasn't just some random woman that Alex had knocked up during a one-night stand. He had actually loved Izzie.

"You don't have to stay," Alex said. "I understand if you don't want to be with me anymore."

"That's crazy talk!" Jo cried. "Alex, I am not leaving you. Don't think just because you have a kid now means I'm going to stop loving you. You didn't know. It's not your fault. You did nothing wrong. It's not your fault your ex-wife is a crazy lunatic."

Meredith creaked the door open. She planned to drop the gloves off and then make a clean getaway, but Alex's face froze on her when she opened the door. His eyes were bloodshot. He'd obviously been crying a lot. Meredith had only seen Alex cry on a couple occasions; one being when he thought Izzie was going to die from cancer. The most recent being when his dad was dying.

"Alex," she said quietly.

"You knew." Alex clenched his fists together and sprung off the ground. He grabbed Meredith's shoulders tightly. "You fucking knew I had a kid, and you didn't tell me. You've known all along, haven't you? You went four fucking years without telling me I have offspring." He shook her shoulders. Her head spun.

"Alex!" Jo cried. "Let her go!" She grabbed Alex's waist, and he loosened his grip on Meredith. Their eyes met as he set her down. The aching pain shined in his eyes. Jo met eyes with Meredith. "Dr. Grey, I am so sorry. He's going through a lot right now."

"I know," Meredith said. "It's okay." She turned to Alex and hissed, "And I didn't know. At least until yesterday."

A pager beeped. They all checked their phones. It was Jo's.

"Crap," Jo said. "It's Robbins. I have to go." She put her arm around Alex's waist and kissed his cheek. "It's going to be okay, Alex. I'm not going anywhere. We'll get through this together."

He didn't look so sure as he watched Jo leave. Meredith and Alex locked eyes.

"Alex, I'm really sorry this is happening to you," Meredith said calmly. "But you've got to believe me when I tell you this. I only found out yesterday, and when I did find out, I told Izzie that she had to tell you. It wasn't my place to tell you. It was hers."

"Okay, okay," Alex rolled his eyes.

"You shouldn't have had to find out like that," Meredith said.

He scowled, rolling his brown eyes. "You think?" He ran his hand across his forehead.

She carefully touched his shoulder. "It's going to be okay."

"Is it?" He pushed her hand away. "I'm not so sure about that. Every time it seems like my life is on track, every time I think I've met the one, something gets fucked up. I can't lose her. Not again."

Meredith didn't know if Alex was talking about Jo or Izzie, and she was afraid to ask.

"It's not fair to Jo," Alex continued. "It's not fair at all. What would you do if that Rose chick that Derek dated when you were separated showed up with his kid in tow? What would you do, Mer?"

Meredith's eyes widened. She remembered that Derek had told her Rose had lied to him about being pregnant just to see his reaction. What if she wasn't lying? She pushed the thought out of her head immediately. She didn't want to think of the possibility that there might be another mini Derek Shepherd out there. The only mini Derek Shepherd in the world was her son.

"I don't know," she said hoarsely. "He's my husband, so I'd support him, of course. But Derek never loved Rose," Meredith stated, or at least that's what he'd assured her many times and she chose to believe. If he'd loved Rose, he wouldn't have thrown her to the side of the curb after Meredith had built him the house of candles. He hadn't even thought twice about breaking up with Rose. "You loved Izzie, didn't you, Alex?"

Alex was quiet before responding quietly, "She was my first love." A tear rolled down his cheek. "And now I don't what to do. I love Jo so much. I don't want to hurt her."

"Wait," Meredith said carefully. "You're not thinking about leaving Jo for Izzie, are you?"

"I love Jo," Alex said. "But seeing Izzie brings back so many memories." He wiped a tear from his cheek. "I don't know what to do, Mer. I don't. Jo gets me. She gets me in ways that Izzie never did and never could. Izzie hurt me bad. It took me years to mend, and now that I've finally moved on, here she is. It's her M.O. It's what she does."

"Alex, stop," Meredith said. She checked her phone. Ten minutes had passed since she'd last texted Cristina. "Come with me." She grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the supply closet and headed toward the cafeteria.

Cristina was already devouring her salad when Alex and Meredith entered the cafeteria.

"Well, there you are, Mer. I was beginning to think you'd stood me up," Cristina said, looking up from her plate. She then locked eyes with Alex. "What's up, Evil Spawn? You look like roadkill."

"Oh, thanks, because I feel like roadkill," Alex responded dryly.

Then Cristina's mouth rounded as she turned toward Meredith. "Izzie told him, didn't she?"

"Oh, come on, you told her, Mer?" Alex scowled and he rose his voice. "Who the hell else knows in this hospital? Apparently everyone but me!" Silence beckoned within the cafeteria for a moment as everyone now had their eyes on Alex. The silence was followed by distinct whispers.

"I wanted to tell you, but Mer made me promise not to," Cristina said, stuffing her face with food.

"Cristina," Meredith hissed, not happy that she was making the situation worse.

"Nobody else knows, that I know of. I mean, I didn't tell anyone else. I didn't even tell Derek. He knows Izzie's back, but he doesn't know about Blake. Well, he knows about Blake, but he doesn't know he's yours." She looked at Cristina. "You didn't tell anyone else, did you?"

Cristina shook her head. "Nope."

"And keep it that," Alex said roughly and turned around, storming out of the cafeteria.

"Alex! Where are you going?" Meredith called after him. He didn't respond. Meredith looked at Cristina. "You could've been a little more supportive. He just found out he has a kid he didn't know about."

"No can do. Remember I'm an evil monster?" Cristina rolled her eyes and laughed fiendishly.

"Cristina, can we not do this?" Meredith asked desperately. She remembered when Cristina had asked Meredith when she'd become such a monster to her during their last fight while they were getting fitted for April's wedding. "I don't want to fight with you anymore."

"It was supposed to be a joke," Cristina said. "Sheesh, don't take everything so personally."

Meredith rolled her eyes. Because that's all I do. Take everything personally. Meredith bit her lip. She didn't want to instigate another fight with Cristina. It was getting old; Cristina putting words in her mouth. It was true. They were drifting apart.

"You know, maybe this was a bad idea," Cristina said carefully.

"Maybe you're right," Meredith said, checking the time on her phone. She had thirty minutes to get to the airport. "You know, I have to pick Derek up at the airport. I should go pick up the kids. We'll talk later, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Cristina said with a hint of doubt in her voice.

Meredith's stomach was still rumbling, so she grabbed a sandwich to go and ate it on the way to the Attendings' lounge, where she found April and Jackson eating each other's faces for lunch. They were so into their meals that they apparently failed to notice Meredith enter the room.

"You do realize this isn't an on-call room, right?" she teased. They both flinched and fell apart from each other's mouths.

"Oh, God, Mer-" April stumbled. Her cheeks flushed the color of her hair.

Meredith shrugged. "Nothing I haven't seen already."

"Let's go, April," Jackson said, grabbing April's hand, then whispered in Meredith's ear as he left, "Um, I'd appreciate if you didn't say anything about to, uh, anyone. Especially Webber, because he'd tell my mom. And, um, I'm on already sort of in deep water as is."

Jackson's mother had been pissed when she found out about what her son had done at April's wedding. She deemed it very unprofessional, for a board member and the grandson of Harper Avery to make such a fool of himself in front of so many of his co-workers, people he saw every day.

"I won't say a word, though I'd highly advise against sucking face in the Attendings' lounge if you don't want word to get back to Mama Avery. It's not the most private of places." Meredith smiled, and watched as the happy couple left. "Kids today," she said out loud and rolled her eyes.

She changed out of her scrubs and picked the kids up from daycare. Meredith wasn't surprised to find Alex standing outside the daycare window, watching the kids play, when she was on her way out with Zola and Bailey. He appeared dumbstruck.

"Uncle Alex!" Zola cheered and gave Alex a hug. "I misseded you!"

Alex faked a smile for the little girl. "Why, I missed you too, Miss Zola." He locked eyes with Meredith. She could tell he was hurting.

"You okay?" Meredith asked. Alex shook his head.

"He looks like me," Alex whispered. "It's almost creepy how much he looks like me." He let go of Zola and looked through the window. "Watching him...I feel like I'm looking at old photographs of me."

"Have you talked to him?" Meredith asked.

Alex shook his head. "Izzie dropped him off at daycare before she told me. He hasn't met me yet. What am I supposed to do? Walk in there and say, 'Hi, buddy. I'm your dad.'"

"You're in a tough place," Meredith replied. "But you'll figure it out. You always do."

Alex's eyes were set on the little guy, who was playing with Legos with Sofia.

"I want custody of him," Alex said. "Izzie has to give me partial custody of him, doesn't she?"

"You'll have to talk to her about that," Meredith said, Bailey weighing down on her shoulder. "I have to go pick up Derek." She set her free hand on Alex's shoulder. "It's going to be okay."

As she left, she saw Arizona heading toward the daycare. Meredith figured she was on her way to the airport as well. She didn't stop to talk to Arizona, though.

She'd texted Amelia to tell her that she was taking the kids to pick up Derek at the airport. Meredith hadn't bothered tracking Amelia down. Frankly, she thought it was better that she pick Derek up without Amelia. Then she could have a little time with her family before absolute chaos broke out.

The kids were excited, especially Zola. On the ride to the airport, all she talked about was how she couldn't wait to see Daddy. She talked about Daddy taking her fishing, and helping her play doctor, and having a tea party with her. Meredith was glad that she was excited to see Derek, but she was a little sad too. Zola used to be so close to her. She was a Mommy's girl. But she felt like the past few months, the months she'd dedicated to work, had caused her to drift apart from her daughter. And honestly, it scared her. Zola's words were innocent now. But what would happen in a few years when Zola resented her for working instead of going to her dance recitals? Meredith didn't want that to happen.

They arrived five minutes before the plane was scheduled to land. Meredith took the kids to the window so they could watch the planes land.

"Your daddy's going to be on one of those planes," Meredith told Zola and Bailey.

"Will we see him step off?" Zola asked eagerly.

"No, sweetie. He has to walk through the magical tunnel first, then he'll meet us in here," Meredith explained.

"Boo!" Meredith jumped at the high-pitched voice from behind. She swung around to see Arizona holding Sofia's hand. Zola hugged Sofia. "I tried to catch you, but you were walking too fast. I was gonna say, you could ride to the airport with Sofia and me."

"I don't think there'd be room in either of our cars for Callie, Derek, and the three kids," Meredith commented.

"Oh, right," Arizona said. She looked out the window and watched as a plane landed. "Do you think that's their plane?"

Meredith looked at the Arrivals board in front of them. She saw the flight from HNL (Honolulu International Airport) change to Arrived. The flight right below HNL was DCA (Reagan International Airport). It had taken off at 11:45 a.m. Eastern time. It was still in the air.

Meredith's heart pounded in her chest as moments passed, and the status of her husband's flight hadn't changed.

Twenty minutes passed.

Flights came in and out, but the status of the DCA flight didn't change. She looked at Arizona. She could sense the panic in Arizona's face as well.

"Mommy, where's Daddy?" Zola tugged on Meredith's hand.

"Where Mommy?" Sofia whimpered.

"They're still on their way," Arizona explained, putting a smile on her face for the kids. "Right, Meredith?"

"Yeah," Meredith said. "They'll be here in any minute."

Both Zola and Sofia were too young to remember the crash that had claimed Sofia's dad's and Zola's aunt's lives. Memories of that crash still haunted Arizona's and Meredith's thoughts, though. The memories especially terrorized them since both of their spouses were supposedly still in the air right now and the statuses of their planes had not changed on the board, even though should have already arrived.

Maybe their flights were delayed, Meredith hoped as she nervously approached the front desk. "Excuse me," she said, her heart pounded fiercely in her chest. "Can you tell me the status of a flight from Washington D.C.? It was supposed to land twenty minutes ago."

Oh, God, she thought. This can't be happening.

Hope for the best. Expect the worst.

A/N2: Dun, dun dun… cliffy!

This chapter was actually written entirely before 10x13 aired. I know Mertina are on the mend, and I'm certainly happy about that. Still, I feel like words were said that couldn't be taken back and they'll never be as close as they were before - which I was trying to show with this chapter. Cristina was making a joke, but Meredith thought she was making a reference to their fight, even though she wasn't. It just shows how much they've grown apart and don't know each other as well anymore. Don't worry, there will still be happy Mertina moments in this fanfic. :) And yes, Cristina will leave eventually. :'(