A/N: Hey! I got another chapter for my wonderful readers and reviewers. You all make me so happy and really motivate me to write. I love writing this. This chapter was going to have a little more, but then I realized that a certain little girl deserved basically her own chapter. I hope you like!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading and reviewing. Oh, and just a heads up, next chapter will have lots of MerDer sexy time… *hint!* lol
Chapter 38-
Five years ago a special little girl was born in Malawi. Six months later she was brought to America to have an intense case of spina bifida and hydrocephalus fixed by a world renowned neurosurgeon. After what felt like a million more months of turmoil, she became his oldest daughter, their oldest daughter. Derek smiles as he recalls the moment that he saw Zola at the front door with Janet. Despite the drama that had ensued, they had won. He and Meredith were granted custody of the little girl currently sleeping in the bed in front of him. He watches Zola sleep in the moonlight. Her princess blanket tucked all the way up around her shoulders, her Cinderella and Belle dolls on either side of her. Numerous other stuffed cats, elephants and a green speckled frog sprawled over her bed. Her favorite lion clutched in her hand. He watches as her little chest rises and falls, somehow snoring just like her mother. The sky is dark with only a little moonlight filtering in through the bottom of the blinds. Derek carefully moves all the toys except for the lion and scoops her into his arms. He carries her into his and Meredith's room and places her right in the middle. Then, he situates himself back into the sheets and pulls Meredith and Zola into his arms and falls back to sleep.
"Derek." Meredith whispers a few hours later. She shakes his shoulder, "Derek."
"Hmm?" He murmurs, eyes still closed.
"Wake up." She giggles. Derek opens his eyes slowly, smiling when he meets Meredith's green ones.
"There's a little girl in our bed."
"Hmm? Oh, I know." Derek smirks as he looks down at Zola who is now curled in between her parents in a little ball.
"I got up to feed Lex and ZoZo was here." She smiles warmly before it morphs into concern. "Did she have a bad dream?!" Meredith looks at her worriedly and strokes her braided hair.
"No, she didn't Mer." Derek gives her a soothing smile, sitting up and cupping Meredith's cheek. "After I put Lexie back to sleep I realized that it was after midnight. It's Zola's birthday." He beams excitedly, the same look on Meredith's face. "I just wanted her close to us tonight."
"Oh, Derek." Meredith breathes in admiration, running her fingers in his hair. "That is so sweet. I'm glad she's close to us tonight." Meredith rubs Zola's cheek and leans down to kiss her. "I can't believe she's five years old."
"Me neither!" Derek beams. "Now, let's get some sleep, it's gonna be a long day." He laughs before kissing Meredith and laying back in bed where they both fall asleep quick.
"Mama? Daddy?" Zola looks at both curiously when she wakes a couple hours later not in the same place she fell asleep. Her head goes back and forth between Meredith and Derek before turning to Meredith. "Mama." She rubs Meredith's shoulder. "Wake up, please." Meredith rubs her eyes and yawns before she is able to focus. When she does she beams widely at Zola in front of her.
"Hi, baby girl!" She coos.
"Hi, mama. What am I doing in here? It's okay, I love snuggling with you and daddy, it's one of my favoritist things in the whole wide world. But I don't remember having a bad dream." Zola rambles.
Meredith laughs, "Daddy brought you in here. We wanted you to be close because of what today is, do you remember?"
Zola laughs heartily. "Of course, mama! It's my birthday and Sofia and Emily and Julie and Sarah are all coming for a party!"
"That's right baby. Happy Birthday!" Meredith pulls her into her arms and squeezes her close. She then proceeds to kiss all over Zola. "I love you, sweetie." She whispers into her ear.
"I love you too, Zo." Derek adds, causing both girls to jump.
"I didn't know you were up, Derek." Meredith giggles.
"Just got up a minute ago while Zola was rambling."
"Daddy!" Zola cheers falling into his arms laughing more when Derek begins rocking her and kissing her. "That tickles!" She tries to hide her face from the tickling of his stubble.
"Good morning, Zo. Happy Birthday!" He gazes at her happily.
"I'm so excited for my birthday!" Zola says as they all sit up against the headboard. Derek pulls Meredith close so that Zola can sit on both their laps.
"It's gonna be so much fun, sweetie." Meredith agrees. "Now, what would you like for breakfast?"
"I want daddy to make chocolate chip pancakes!" She says definitively.
"I would love to, birthday girl." Derek squeezes her close. "Would you like to do anything special before your friends get here?"
"Umm, we all have to have a princess tea party. You, mama, Bailey, Nana and Lexie!"
"We can do that." Meredith giggles.
"Can you tell me the story of how you found me again?" Zola looks at both her parents as they all sit together, Derek and Meredith's hands resting over Zola's stomach.
"Of course, baby." Meredith smiles warmly. She snuggles closer into Derek's arms, placing her head on his shoulder. Derek wraps the hand on Zola's stomach around both Zola and Meredith, kissing both their foreheads. "Well, where you are from in Malawi it's a very poor country. They don't have the right medicine like we do to fix people."
"The mama and daddy who had you went to heaven, but you were also very sick." Derek continues.
"Uncle Alex wanted to help kids in other countries who were sick and couldn't see a doctor and one of the places he chose was Malawi. You were in one of the groups to be helped." Meredith smiles.
"They brought me to daddy to fix my head and spine!" Zola recalls.
"Yes, I had to put a shunt in your head, a plate, and fix your back." Derek adds. "When I saw you I knew that you were an extra special little girl, my little girl. Then, I had to introduce you to mama who also knew you were very special when she saw you."
"When daddy put you in my arms, I knew you were our little girl." Says Meredith.
"Then, we knew that we needed you so we talked to a bunch of people and after a long time, they finally agreed to let us take you home and be our daughter." Derek finishes looking at Meredith with moist eyes.
"Wow!" Zola breathes. She cuddles into Meredith as she peeks up at Derek. "I'm glad you found me." Her voice is barely audible.
"Us too, baby." Meredith murmurs kissing her.
"Umm, now I hungry." Zola giggles a moment later, holding her stomach.
"Okay, let's get moving!" Derek claps his hands before moving to get out of bed. They head out into the living room, everyone else is still sleeping. Derek gets the flour, eggs, chocolate chips, butter and milk out to make breakfast while Meredith and Zola watch. "Lexie seemed to have slept good last night." He mentions as he mixes.
"Yeah, she got up at one a.m when you got up with her, then it was six when I put her back to sleep. It's 8:30 now." Meredith replies.
"Wow." Derek adds while watching Zola enjoy her juice.
"Hi mama, hi daddy." Bailey comes shuffling in, holding his Goofy stuffed animal by one ear.
"Oh, good morning, Bailey!" Meredith beams as she lifts him into her arms. She kisses him before adjusting him on her hip and walking to the fridge. He nuzzles in Meredith's neck and rubs his eyes once more before spotting his sister next to Meredith's seat.
"Happy Birftay, Zola." He smiles.
"Thanks, Bailey! Daddy's making chocolate chip smiley pancakes." She points.
"Cool!" He smiles as he takes the juice from Meredith.
"Woah! That's super big!" Zola cheers as she sees Derek place a huge circle pancake on a plate with two smaller ones up high to the side.
"For you sweetie. What is it shaped like?" He smirks.
"Minnie!" Zola claps. "It's a Minnie Mouse chocolate chip smiley pancake!"
"No, it's Mickey. It gots no bow!" Bailey counters.
"Hang on!" Derek grabs two strawberries and makes a bow in between as the kids mouths drop in shock.
"Wow!" Zola cries.
"That is fabulous Derek, where did you learn how to do shapes like this?" Meredith asks as she attempts to keep Bailey from falling off her lap after he bounces with excitement when he sees his Mickey pancake.
"My dad taught me and then I watched my mom." Derek smiles.
"So delicious!" Meredith moans, her eyes closing as she takes a bite of hers and let's the warm, sweet chocolate taste onto her tongue.
"Mer…" Derek shivers, trying to regain control of his breathing. "When you do that… You." He licks his lips as he stares into her eyes.
"Hmm." She smirks as she teases him by licking her lip ending in a giggle. "It does, huh?" Meredith coos as she reaches for his hand and strokes his fingers.
"Hello, dears!" Carolyn announces, interrupting their moment. Derek shakes his head and turns towards the fridge before greeting his mom. "Here's the birthday princess!" She hugs Zola tightly.
"I'm five, nana!" She informs Carolyn.
"That's right you are. Such a big girl!"
"We're gonna have a tea party when we all get dressed."
"That sounds great, ZoZo." Carolyn strokes her little cheek.
"Mama, I hear Lexie!" Bailey informs, hearing the baby's cries.
"Oh, thank you sweetie." Meredith goes into the bedroom to get Lexie while everyone else cleans up breakfast. She goes ahead and feeds Lexie before bringing her out. She figures today will be crazy and wants to make sure to have some special time with her youngest. "Okay, sweet girl, what should we dress you in now?" Meredith asks as she heads to Lexie's room to pick out clothes. Lexie smiles and sticks out her little tongue, swatting Meredith's chest in response. "Here we go, something special for you to wear for Zola's birthday." Out of the closet she picks a pink onesie that says "I love my big sister." It has red letters and two lions on the front, one bigger one smaller. Then, she adds some matching leggings with a red heart on the bottom. "Adorable!" Meredith coos as she places Lexie on her shoulder and kisses her cheek. Lexie gurgles and lifts and turns her head making her nose hit Meredith's cheek.
"There you are!" Derek beams when he sees them walk back out.
"I decided to have a one on one breakfast with Lexie and then get her dressed." Meredith leans up to kiss him.
"Hmm, you look adorable angel." Derek lifts her into his arms and rocks her, cheek to cheek.
"We're wearing it for Zola." Giggles Meredith. "Speaking of, where are the kids?" Her eyes glance around, searching.
"Ahh, she's getting dressed, something about being a big girl now and she has to get ready for kindergarten." Derek relays his daughters words.
"Crap! She can't be growing up this quick, Derek." Meredith moans, pressing into Derek's arms.
"Shh, it's okay Mer." He wraps his free arm around her shoulder. "She will always be our baby girl." Derek let's his lips linger on her forehead."
"What about Bailey?"
"Ma's getting him ready. I'm just getting what I need to finish the cake. Once we have the tea party, no one is allowed in the kitchen. Zola's cake is gonna be extra special." He smirks.
"Oh yeah?" Meredith giggles, running her fingers through his hair. Derek nods definitively as Zola comes skipping to them.
"I'm here!" She hops from the little step into the kitchen. Meredith and Derek turn to her and gasp. Zola has on her pink sparkly jeans, Aurora, Belle and Snow White shirt with pink hearts, pink converse and on top of her braids sits a purple crown with the words "birthday princess."
"Woah Zola, you look so pretty!" Derek smiles.
"Thanks, daddy!" She jumps.
"Very nice, baby." Adds Meredith.
"Can I go watch Sofia?" She asks.
"Of course, birthday girl." Meredith kisses her. "Derek, that's a whole lot of pink."
"It is. But, it's cute." Meredith nods in agreement before Derek suggests that they go get dressed as they only have until 4 when the guests arrive. The kids are still watching Sofia when Derek and Meredith are getting dressed, so they begin carting out party supplies out to the deck. Carolyn begins cutting out print outs of princesses that they need and Derek and Meredith set up a long table and chairs in the grass. Thankfully, it's a little warmer today and most of the snow had already melted. When Zola and Bailey informed them that their show was over, Zola directed them to the playroom for the tea party.
"Okay, mama, you sit here and daddy sit next to mama. Nana and Bailey sit on this side. I'm the server." She nods proudly.
"What about Lexie, ZoZo?" Derek asks.
"Umm, you hold her daddy." Then, Zola rummages in her toy chest and pulls out some princess crowns. "Here, Bailey." She hands him a hot pink crown with sparkles and jewels.
"Aww, Zo I want the green one!" Bailey pouts.
"Take the crown, Bailey." Zola stares at him. Hesitating, Bailey slowly takes it and puts it on his head.
"What a look!" Whispers Carolyn to Derek.
He releases his lip from between his teeth that had been holding back laughter and murmurs back. "That's Meredith's stare she gives interns when she wants them to listen." Meredith swats him and leans over.
"You were the one worried about Bailey taking control of her." She glares at Derek.
"She's got her mother's bossiness." Derek wraps Meredith in his arm and she can't help but melt into him, giggling as he captures her lips in a kiss. His soft lips pulling her in, making the world slip away. It's not until Lexie kicks in Derek's arms, trying to reclaim her space that they pull away.
"Mama, daddy, here!" Zola hands them each a purple princess crown. Once they take their crowns, Zola gives one to Carolyn. "Can Lexie wear a crown?" She asks.
"I'm sure she would love one. Do you have a softer one?" Meredith suggests.
"Ya!" Zola says as she rummages through her toy chest, almost falling inside. She finally locates a foam one covered in stickers that she made in daycare once. "Here Lex. You wear this one." She gives it to Derek who places it on her black curls.
"Did you see Lexie's shirt, Zola?" Meredith asks as the little girl comes to see.
"It says I love something." Zola points.
"Yep, it says I love my big sister." Meredith grins. "She wore it for your birthday!"
Zola gasps and rests a little hand on Lexie's smaller one. "Aww, I love you too, Lex!" She leans down and kisses her.
"You are such a good big sister." Meredith smiles at Zola.
"Okay, now it's time for tea!" Zola pulls out her Beauty and the Beast tea set and sets up cups, saucers and presses the button on "Mrs. Potts" starting the music for "Tale as Old as Time."
"What's for snack?" Asks Bailey.
"I gots little cakes, chips and tiny sandwiches." Zola lays out each on the table. She passes out treats and tea and tries to make pretend conversation with all of her guests. They all take every little bit offered with Meredith and Derek watching their oldest in awe.
"Oh, damn, it's almost 12, Zo, we gotta start getting set up for your party." Derek says.
"Yeah, plus Lexie's gotta nap so she's not cranky." Meredith adds.
"Aww, but we're having so much fun!" Zola looks down.
"I know baby, but we're gonna have even more fun soon, when all your friends get here." Meredith pulls Zola into her arms. "Why don't you and Bailey go play in your room while we work. Daddy wants us out of the kitchen because he has a surprise." She smirks at Derek.
"Okay, come on Bails!" She says as Bailey rips the crown off his head and follows.
"Okay, I'll get Lex fed and asleep and then we can start working outside." Meredith suggests as they stand.
"Perfect, are the tables in the right places? I can put the tablecloths on them?" Carolyn asks.
"Yes, we laid out which ones go where." Meredith adds. With that, they head to their designated starting spots and set to work. Lexie eats and falls asleep rather well, so Meredith hurries and heads out to help Carolyn. They start by covering the patio window on the outside with a huge princess banner. It's pink with purple princess crowns around Cinderella, Belle, Aurora, Snow White, Jasmine and Tiana. Carolyn had set up the first table with a bright pink tablecloth and lighter pink tullie over that. Attached to the front of the table were large paper flowers. Each one has a Disney Princess in the center. "Zola will love this!" Meredith exclaims.
"She most definitely will, Meredith." Carolyn exclaims. They continue to put a cardboard cut out of Cinderella, Belle and Aurora with Zola's name on the table and set up the containers for the snacks. There's princess popcorn buckets, glass slippers with blue jellybeans and even labels for "Aurora's Kisses" and "Chip's chips". The labels even had a picture of the character that goes with each. Meredith sets up a few more snack place cards and then they begin working more on the other tables, covering them in pink tablecloths and more princess cutouts. Soon, the doorbell rings signaling one of two expected deliveries. Meredith answers and smiles in relief when she sees that their balloons have arrived safely. It takes them three trips to bring all the balloons to the deck. Carolyn and Meredith tie the character balloons which are the largest, around the big princess banner and the "Happy Birthday" balloons on the table out in the yard. The other pink and white plain and spotted balloons are tied on some chairs but also around the front door, the bars of the deck and the present table. Soon, everything is set up and Meredith is ready to show Zola. She goes into the kitchen where Derek is frosting something.
"Hey you." She murmurs as she wraps her arms around him behind and kissing in between his shoulder blades.
"Hey! How's it going?" He asks, turning in her arms.
"Great, we're done, just need to put out the food and the special treats we made last night."
"Perfect, I'm done here and I got my delivery." Derek points to three boxes on the counter.
"You're done with the cake?!" Meredith says, peeking around him. He turns so she can see and her mouth drops. "Holy crap!"
"You like?!" Derek smirks.
"Derek! This is incredible! You better be able to keep this up for Lexie. She's gonna see these pictures and be jealous." Meredith says in shock.
"Don't worry, she will get something just as special." He pulls Meredith close. "Now, let's get everything outside so we can show Zo." Together they bring the rest out, putting the final touches on all the tables. Every station was set and ready for guests to arrive in thirty minutes.
"Zola! Bailey!" Meredith calls.
"Is it ready, mama?" Zola asks.
"Yes, baby, let's go see your princess party." Meredith giggles. She can't believe how much she is enjoying having a girly girl party for her daughter.
"But, you have to close your eyes." Derek smirks, scooping Zola up and guiding her head to his shoulder.
"Come here, Bails." Meredith reaches for him and lifts him up before signaling for him to stay quiet. They walk out side through the front door since the main patio doors are covered with the banner. Once they turn the corner Bailey starts to gasp, causing Meredith to cover his little mouth.
"Okay, princess. Look." Derek rubs her back. Zola turns and opens her eyes. Her eyes go wide and her jaw drops at the sight in front of her. On the deck was the main table with the large princess character balloons that had the poster behind it. On the table was everything Meredith and Carolyn set up plus some extra surprises. There were fruit "wands" on another tray, pink chocolates and pretzel wands that had sprinkles with the colors for each princess. There were bright colored candies and pink, purple, blue and green sugar sticks. All were set up in glass jars with a Disney Princess on them.
"Mama, where did you get those wands?!" Zola says in awe when she saw the pretzel wands.
"Daddy and I made them after you went to bed." Meredith smiles. Zola squeals and bounces excitedly, screaming thank you on the top of her lungs. They continue to look towards the middle of the table where the cake sat.
"That's… MY cake?!" Zola whispers in shock. Derek nods, thrilled with Zola's reaction. It's three tiers with four cylinders around it to make it look like a castle. On top of the cylinders were ice cream cones upside down, covered in frosting and sprinkles. The bottom of the cake was blue for Cinderella and had one of her plastic Cinderella's up against the frosting. The next layer was yellow for Belle and had candy roses around it with a toy Belle standing on top. The final layer was pink and had Aurora and one of the fairies on top. There were five candles and Zola's name written around the pink layer. "I love it, daddy!
"Hmm, I was wondering what you were rolling the other night." Meredith giggles.
"Yeah… That was interesting, I've never done that with a cake before." Derek laughs.
"Is it chocolate?" Bailey wonders.
"It's both, bud." Derek reaches and ruffles his hair.
"Yay! My favorite!" He cheers. They move on to the other table on the deck and see the present table, covered in the same table cloth and a Belle cutout. They walk down the stairs to get a closer look at the backyard. Zola gushes over the paper flowers and balloons attached to the deck railings and gasps once more when she sees the long table in front of her. It's covered in pink with pink balloons and the ones saying "happy birthday" on the chairs. But, what really gets her is all that is on the table. Each place setting is made up of a food and cake plate for each person with princesses on them. There's pink silverware and everybody has a real tea cup and a tea kettle sits in the middle.
"It's our very large Princess Tea Party." Meredith giggles as she tickles Zola. They continue looking at the chairs that have pink bows tied to the backs. Zola see's Derek's other surprises and reaches for them. On either side of the tea kettle, sit plates of specially made sugar cookies. Some are shaped like Cinderella's carriage, some like princess crowns with Zola's name and others as each of the Disney Princesses dresses, including Snow White and Tiana's.
"Can I have a cookie?!" Zola stares eagerly at Derek.
"Me too!" Asks Bailey.
"Absolutely, we all can." Derek laughs.
"Derek, what did you do?!" Gasps Meredith, tears forming with the joy her daughter was having.
"I saw these and knew that our little love bug should have them."
"Derek." Meredith shakes her head in disbelief. She cuddles into him as Zola happily chomps on a dress cookie and Bailey, not surprisingly eats the one with the most sprinkles, a carriage. As they eat, they move to the last two tables. One for crown decorating and the other for princess nail polish. Once April mentioned that she would be happy to paint their nails, they had to have a nail painting station. There was a color and sparkles for each princess.
"I love it, I love it!" Zola cheers.
"You guys did wonderful." Carolyn pats Derek's shoulder.
"Well, you helped ma." He replies before turning to Zola. "Okay sweetie, let's go get your dress on because your friends should be here soon."
"Yay! Finally!" She exclaims. Derek and Meredith go to get the kids dressed while Carolyn goes to check Lexie. They get Zola dressed in her Cinderella dress complete with new heels and fake jewelry. Bailey wears his little Prince Charming costume.
"Uh oh, we may have to get a new one for Disney, buddy." Meredith laughs as she sees his little ankles show a little.
"I'm bigger!" Bailey giggles as he looks at his ankles.
"You are, my big boy." Meredith ruffles his hair as they walk. She sees Carolyn with Lexie. "Oh! Lexie's up!"
"Yeah, she was. I hope you don't mind that I gave her a bottle."
"Not all, thanks mom." Meredith smiles. "Okay baby girl. Let's get you dressed." She coos, taking Lexie. Bailey runs outside and Meredith takes Lexie and gets her dressed in a one piece sleeper that looks like Marie from Aristocats. It even has Marie on the chest and toes and cat ears on the hood. "We're all set!" Meredith says as she walks out to Derek with the baby.
"She looks so cute!" He says as he looks at Lexie. Derek's eyes drift from Lexie to Meredith and his face lights up more at the sparkle in her eyes and smile on her lips. Unable to resist, he places one hand on her waist and the other on her chin. Stroking so gently, he guides her gaze to his and tilts his head in wonder. Meredith looks at him curiously but then moans in pleasure as his smooth lips reach hers.
"I love you so much, Derek." She presses closer, tugging at his collar.
"I love you, too Mer." He adds as he rests his forehead on hers. They look out across the yard at Zola and Bailey. "Look how happy they are."
"Totally. I think this party is every girls dream." Meredith giggles.
"It is, I already got jealous texts about the pictures I sent to my sisters. They said that their princess parties weren't this cool."
"None of my parties were this great, Derek or as great as Bailey's." Meredith whispers as Derek hugs her close.
"No more thinking like that Meredith." He rubs her arms affectionately. "Now, do you know what my favorite part about this party is?"
"What's that?" She wonders.
"That amongst all of the tea party food and treats, Zola still wants pizza for dinner." Derek laughs.
"Hmm, that's my girl." Meredith laughs, shaking her head. "Taught her well!"
"Yes, you did." Derek replies as they continue to watch. The first guests to arrive are Callie, Arizona and Sofia. Zola eagerly runs up to her friend, who is dressed as Snow White and grabs a wand from the party supply box they bought for today. She then helps Sofia pick out some princess jewels and lip gloss before they run off to play.
"This is incredible you guys!" Arizona says with shock.
"Yeah, I wish we could do something like this for Sofia." Adds Callie.
"You can, if you need the space, use ours." Derek gestures.
"Well, we're hoping to have a house by Sofia's birthday." Replies Callie.
"That's great!" He smiles.
"I uh… Think I came to the wrong house…" Comes a shocked voice. "Is this the home of Meredith Grey?! All this pink." Miranda snorts with a friendly grin as she walks towards them.
"I'm actually really enjoying this." Meredith laughs, rocking Lexie.
"Oh, look at you!" Miranda peeks at Lexie after smiling proudly at Meredith. Lexie stares at her while sucking her fingers. "You're getting so big!"
"She is." Nods Derek. Coming up the walkway they see two of Zola's friends with their parents. "Zola!" He calls as she comes running. She greets her guests who are dressed as Belle and Elsa and then hands them their entry princess supplies. The adults talk together until the other guests arrive. Soon, the last princess guest, a little Ariel, arrives along with Richard, Alex and Jo, Owen and Amy. Jackson and April are the very last to arrive signaling the beginning of the princess nail spa.
"Is anyone at the hospital?" Meredith asks tentatively.
"Yeah." Owen laughs. "Interns and attendings like Nelson."
"Oh crap." Meredith moans as everyone stifles a laugh.
"Mama, all my friends are here. Can we do nails?" Zola asks.
"Ask Auntie April." She tells Zola.
"I'm ready! Go get your friends." April smiles at her.
"I can help." Offers Arizona. They set go off and get all the kids set. Each girl sits and get lotion rubbed on their hands first. Meredith had loaned some of hers for the girls to use. Then, they each picked a color from one of the princess themed nail polish bottles shaped like a flower. Last, they all got sparkly glitter on top of their nails.
"Zola, look what I found." Meredith brings something over as they are waiting for the sparkles to dry.
"What, mama?"
Meredith pulls out some face glitter. "I thought we could put some of this on, you'll really be like a princess."
"Yes! That is so pretty!" Zola squeals as her and her friends crowd around. Meredith laughs as she puts gold sparkles by each of the girls eyes. When Zola is done she hugs Meredith tightly before running to Derek. "Daddy! I smell pretty like mama!" She giggles as Derek lifts her high in the air and spinning.
"Mm, you do!" He smiles, hugging her and inhaling the lavender scent from the lotion.
"Let's go do the crowns now!" She cries. The girls and even Bailey run to the crown decorating table where they grab foam crowns. There are foam stickers, glitter glue and markers set out for the kids. Zola makes a purple one while chatting away with Sofia. She uses pink, blue and yellow flowers and sticks stickers of Ariel, Cinderella, Belle, Aurora and Elsa all over hers. After, she puts pink glitter glue everywhere.
"Yours is so pretty, Zo." Meredith says when she helps slip it on her head once it's dry.
"I'm a princess now!" She giggles happily.
"I'm a prince!" Bailey shows his marker covered yellow crown.
"You sure are, buddy." Meredith kisses his little cheek.
"Oh, look, pizza's here." Derek calls, getting up to pay. He gets the pizza and brings it over to the table in the yard. He hears Zola with Richard and Alex as he walks.
"Look! My nails are pink with silvery sparkles! Aren't they pretty?" Zola shows them. Derek beams with joy at how excited his daughter is right now.
"They sure are Miss Zola. Do you love your party?" Richard asks.
"Best birthday ever!" She throws her hands up high in the air.
"You better give your mom and dad a big hug." Alex smirks seriously as she nods her head. Zola only can smile before she is then called over by one of her friends, leaving the guys standing. She runs around the yard with the others, spinning and jumping while Derek and Meredith set up the pizza and "tea." Meredith pauses a moment to get a picture of Zola sandwiched between Sofia and one her other friends.
"Okay girls, time for pizza." Meredith laughs after snapping a perfect picture. There's loud cheers as the girls and Bailey run to the table.
"Hmm, this looks familiar." Amy chuckles as she watches Bailey follow behind the girls.
"Yes, one boy behind a bunch of girls. Reminds me of every birthday growing up." Derek replies. "We need to change that number." He smirks at Meredith who glares at him warningly.
"You never know." Amy says as she sits besides Owen.
"Everyone hasta drink tea!" Zola, who is now at the head of the table, says definitively. Her friends sit on either side of her.
"It's only pink lemonade." Meredith explains, sitting next to Derek on one side and Richard on the other. Everyone talks and eats pizza, the fruit wands and Zola's favorite garlic rolls until every last bite is finished.
"That was very good tea, Princess Zola." Callie compliments as she comes up and hugs her.
"Thanks, Auntie Callie!" She replies.
"How about we do your presents now, then we can do cake?" Meredith suggests after cleaning the last plates.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Zola bounces. After managing to redirect multiple people and kids to the patio deck, Zola is finally sitting between Derek and Meredith waiting to open her first gift. She looks at the Disney paper wrapped box in her hands.
"Who's it from?" Derek asks.
"Umm…" Zola studies the card on the box. "I see a M…i…" It's from Aunt Miranda." She says with pride.
"Wow, great job!" Derek leans down to kiss her. She rips open the paper eagerly to find a brown box.
"What is it, daddy?" She hands it to Derek. He takes the box and pulls out a brown music box.
"Oh, look Zo." He says as he shows her. "It has Belle in her dress on top." Derek twists the little knob on the bottom and opens the box.
"That's Tale as Old as Time!" Squeals Zola as she watches a mini Belle and Beast twirl together.
"It's beautiful." Meredith exclaims.
"I love it!" Zola runs to Miranda, hugging her.
"I'm glad, sweetie." Miranda says before Zola heads back to her chair. She takes another present, this one is wrapped in Cinderella paper.
"This is from me and Mama." Derek explains.
"Oh wow, a brain model!" Zola cheers. "Thank you! Now we can really play surgy." She looks happily between her parents.
"Look, the pieces even come apart to show the hypothalamus, Zo." Meredith points.
"Cool!" Zola touches it through the plastic in awe.
"Open mine next, Zo." Sofia hands her a box wrapped in Sofia paper. Inside was a new Barbie doll veterinarian.
"A vet?!" Derek whispers in shock to Meredith.
"Derek." Meredith whispers back in warning.
"But… But…" He stutters. But before he can finish, Meredith leans over and pulls his chin towards her and captures his lips in hers. It was a warm, reassuring kiss that Derek easily reciprocated.
"You were saying?" Meredith smirks.
"Nothing, let's open another, Zo." Derek beams at Meredith as he hands Zola a gift.
The next is from Carolyn. "Wow, it's a blanket with Cinderella and Belle,and Snow White!" Zola giggles, cuddling it close.
"I made it myself, sweetie." Carolyn says as Zola runs to her."
"Aww, I love it!" She smiles. After hugging her nana she opens more presents. There's clothes from Callie, Miranda and April along with a toy from April. Alex and Jo got her the game Operation and a new baby doll. Jackson got her some play food and a stuffed animal. Richard's gift was puzzles and a picture frame for her room. Owen and Amy got her a Beauty and the Beast and Rapunzel play set that comes with a small part of the castles. After a few more outfits, puzzles and art supplies from Meredith and Derek and gifts from her other friends, there are just two left.
"Dis from me, Zo." Bailey whispers with an unusual shyness, squeezing against Meredith's leg.
Zola opens the folded paper and looks. "Aww! Look what Bailey did for me." She turns to show everyone a picture that says "I love you." With an attempted drawing of a heart below it. Underneath, is a picture of Zola and Bailey at Disney.
"That is so sweet, when did you do that Bails?" Meredith rubs his back and kisses his head.
"That was one of the pictures I wanted to keep from Disney. I wanted Zola to have it when I saw it again."
"Oh, Bailey!" Derek beams as he pulls him into his arms and squeezes him in a hug. Ignoring all the "aww's" around them, he kisses him until he can't stop giggling.
"Thank you, Bailey. You did a good job!" Zola pats his arm. She turns to take the last gift. "Mama?" Zola turns to Meredith. "This only has your name." She looks at her in question.
"That's because it's only from me, love bug." Meredith smiles slightly, blushing as Derek looks at her in wonder. Zola smiles as she tears open the paper. Inside of the box lays a doll. It has brown hair and is dressed in a blue hospital gown.
"Is that…?" Derek's mouth drops.
"Her name is Anatomy Jane and she was mine when I was your age." Meredith smiles.
"Meredith." Derek breathes in awe.
"What a great idea, Meredith." Richard beams.
"What does she do, mama?" Zola strokes the dolls hair in reverence. Her eyes sparkle with curiosity.
"Well, she has detachable organs, that means they come out. You can play surgery with her." Meredith smiles before getting bombarded with hugs from Zola.
"I love it mama! I love it!" She wraps her arms so tight around Meredith.
"I'm glad sweetie." Meredith replies, watching as Zola hugs the doll to her. "Wanna see how she works?" Zola quickly begs to see and Meredith opens the detachable abdomen. "There's the stomach, intestines, gall bladder and even the spine can be seen."
"Cool!" Zola and now Bailey watch in awe as she shows them. Derek beams with pride as he watches Meredith, his heart filling with love. Everyone else watches for a while before Zola spots the cake on the table and remembers her ultimate treat. Deciding that it was time for cake, they all head to the table, Zola holding onto her new Anatomy Jane doll. Derek carries the cake over and places it in front of Zola who jumps in her seat eagerly. "Daddy made me the perfect cake." She says as Derek gets ready to light the candles.
"That's fabulous, Derek." Richard says.
"Thanks." Derek replies before standing next to Meredith. They all sing together and when it's time to make a wish, Zola looks at her parents who are wrapped in each other's arms.
"Make a wish, sweetie." Meredith says.
"I'm not sure what to wish for, my wish last year was my only one and it came true." Zola whispers so only people near by can hear.
"What did you wish for?" Asks Meredith.
"For you and daddy to stop fighting." She says with complete innocence as Derek and Meredith stare at each other. Alex and Miranda who are sitting the closest gasp in shock at those words. Derek pulls Meredith closer, holding her tight as he kisses her head as he silently comforts her.
"Well, then just ask for more happiness." Owen suggests having heard her as well.
"Okay!" She smiles, content as she blows her candles out. Before long everyone has cake and each child got a sprinkle covered cone. They also each got a pretzel wand.
"Derek, this is delicious." Meredith moans, eating hers.
"Mm, glad you like." Derek smirks as he sees some crumbs on the side of her mouth and kisses her hungrily. "I love you." He says, pressing his cheek to hers, his warm breath fanning her ear.
Meredith smiles and hums before pulling back and looking into his eyes. "I love you too." Derek smiles as his eyes graze over her features in admiration.
"That was a brilliant idea giving Zo Anatomy Jane." He says, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear.
"Yeah, I wanted her to have it and I got it for my fifth birthday." She says as they watch Zola try to feed the doll. Miranda and Richard sit on either side of her now and Richard is explaining something to her.
"You know Zola, if we give her too much cake, she's gonna need surgery." They hear him say.
"Yeah, we gonna hafta take her stomach out!" Zola nods.
"That right." Miranda laughs. "Why don't we do that?" Zola nods as she quickly finishes her cake and Cinderella pretzel. Meredith and Derek watch as the three play together.
"Hi, mama!" Bailey says as he runs up to his parents covered in chocolate.
"Hey buddy, why are you covered in chocolate?" Meredith giggles.
"Cause the cake was yummy and Uncle Alex kept missing my mouth because he wanted to feed me and the chocolate got all over!" He explains.
"Oh my!" Meredith shakes her head. "Let's get you cleaned up." She reaches for a napkin the best she can with Derek holding onto, not wanting to be apart from her. Meredith doesn't complain as she really doesn't want him to let go, she's so comfortable right now. Once Bailey is cleaned, he runs off to play. Meredith and Derek talk with April and Jackson until they hear pagers blare.
"Damn it, it's mine." Says April.
"Mine too." Callie and Alex reply.
"Our probably will go as well." Richard states. Sure enough, Amy hears hers.
"Sorry guys." She says.
"We totally understand." Meredith says as everyone hugs Zola and wishes her a happy birthday. Zola passes out her party favors to everyone as they leave.
"Thanks, Zo." Sofia waves as she takes her plastic princess cup filled with princess goodies. When the last guest leaves, Meredith takes a sleeping Lexie from Carolyn and sighs.
"That went wonderful." She smiles, kissing Lexie's curls.
"It really did." Derek adds, looking at Zola and Bailey play with Anatomy Jane. "They love that." He chuckles.
"I'm so glad…. I don't wanna clean." Meredith moans, looking around.
"You sit, maybe Zola will wanna watch a movie. Set it up and we will just get the food inside for now. Deal with the rest tomorrow." Derek kisses her softly.
"Mm, okay, Der." Meredith smiles before heading over to Zola. The birthday girl does choose to watch Cinderella and they get her and Bailey all set up with her Anatomy Jane and new blanket. Once Derek and Carolyn bring in all the food and place any perishable foods in the fridge, he comes and snuggles with Meredith and Lexie on the couch. When he gets settled with Meredith and Lexie in his arms and his head on her shoulder, she begins the movie. Zola and Bailey sing along to "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes." And fall asleep together when the prince runs after Cinderella. After taking a picture, Meredith decides that it's time to get the kids to bed. She lets Lexie sleep in her warm Marie outfit and places her in her bassinet and comes to help Derek with the other two. They get Bailey out of his clothes and into his jammies and tuck him in bed. When they go back, they see Zola curled into a ball with her prized doll and in her new blanket. Derek scoops her up, accidentally letting Anatomy Jane out of her grasp. He shares a happy look with Meredith as Zola moans and reaches for the doll. She only settles when Meredith places it back in her arms. Derek walks with her into her room and lays her down. When they try to change her, Zola moans again.
"Stay in dress." She mumbles sleepily. Meredith and Derek shrug and just remove her crown and tuck her into bed. They secure her doll and lion in her arms and put her blanket snugly over her shoulders.
"Night, baby girl. Happy Birthday, I love you." Meredith whispers and kisses her cheek.
"Happy Birthday, ZoZo. I love you, too." Derek strokes her braids and kisses her forehead. They stand and walk to the door and turn to give her one last look.
"She's perfect, Derek. I am so grateful that we got her." Meredith rests her head on his chest."
"Me too, Mer." Derek says as he rubs her back and kisses the top of her head. He leads her to their room where they quickly change and as soon as they lay down, Meredith climbs onto Derek's chest. She lays her head in the crook of his neck. He responds by hugging her tight to him. They stay like that for a while before Meredith starts kissing his neck. Derek groans in delight as shivers run up his spine. Meredith runs her fingers through his hair and his go through hers and a full make out session is started. Eventually, they fall asleep in the same position they started. Meredith on Derek's chest and Derek hugging her tight.