THREE WEEKS LATER

One important life lesson: Plans never work out. You can plan and plan all you want, but life has a way of planting potholes in the road. That's life. Life is full of curveballs and unexpected twists and turns. Of course, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't plan. It just means that you should plan for the unexpected.

Had you told Meredith Grey eight weeks earlier that she would be starting a Neuro fellowship, she would have laughed in your face. She'd left Neuro with no intentions of ever returning to the specialty. Leaving Neuro had been her choice. She'd chosen her marriage time and time again, though she'd known all along that neurosurgery gave her a high that no other specialty had ever given her. Although for the longest time, Meredith hadn't been sure if it was the surgery itself or if it was him.

His minty-fresh breath circulated around her nose. Derek was just centimeters away from her face, smiling and gazing lovingly into her eyes as he took her hand and pulled her into an on-call room. He began kissing her neck, sending riveting sensations down her spine.

"Derek," she moaned, trying to push him away. She glanced quickly at the clock on the wall above the door. "We don't have time. I have a surgery in twenty minutes. I need to prep."

"Mmmm, just a quickie," Derek murmured softly into her ear, softly kissing her earlobe. "We haven't had sex all week." His irresistible puppy dog eyes caused her heart to skip a beat.

She released a sigh. "Derek, you were the one who insisted I take on this fellowship on top of everything else, and now we have three kids to take care of. The kids outnumber the adults."

"That they do," Derek acknowledged, holding her waist. He exhaled, chuckling, "I don't know how my parents made time to make more babies after Lizzie. I mean, they had to make me when Lizzie was around Bailey's age."

"Well, we are not making any babies," Meredith stated adamantly. "Considering we're already parenting a four-year-old, a three-year-old, and a one-year-old." Meredith paused after she spoke Bailey's age, still in disbelief that today was her baby's birthday. One year ago she had given birth to her son, the best day of her life - omitting the fact that she had almost died afterward

He nuzzled his nose against her cheek and kissed the side of her neck. "Mmm, well Blake is only temporary. There's no reason Alex shouldn't be able to get custody of him. His court date is tomorrow."

Meredith nodded, still holding onto hope that everything would turn out well for Alex. Though, there was the whole Izzie situation. Izzie's hearing was scheduled to start an hour before Alex's. The judge had released her on the condition she had somewhere to stay. Meredith would have offered, but since Blake was in her and Derek's custody, her house was off limits. Therefore, Alex had stepped up. Izzie was staying with Jo and Alex, which had to be awkward by nature. That also complicated Alex's situation in his attempt to gain custody of his son, since Izzie wasn't supposed to have unsupervised visits with Blake. Alex, on the other hand, was allowed to visit and take Blake when he wanted as long as there was proof that Blake was living at Meredith's. They had set up bunk beds in Zola's room, to Zola's delight. She never wanted Blake to leave. Meredith knew that when Alex finally did get custody of Blake, it would be difficult on her, just like it had been difficult when Sofia and Callie had moved out after staying with them for a few weeks last year.

"Meredith," Derek said softly, gently removing her lab coat and tossing it across the room.

"I just… what if I miss it?" Meredith sighed worriedly. "I can't miss it, Derek. He only turns one once."

"Shh, Mer. Relax," Derek soothed, running his fingers through her unkempt hair. He kissed her forehead. "It's a craniotomy. Typically takes four to six hours. You're going in the OR at ten; you'll be out between two and four. The party starts at five. You have plenty of time to get home." He smiled proudly.

"Yeah, well, what if there are complications?" Meredith wasn't so convinced. She couldn't bear the thought of missing her son's first birthday party. She knew he was only one, and he wouldn't remember it, but she would, and she would regret it for the rest of her life if she wasn't there. The first birthday sets the foundation for the rest of a child's life. Meredith's parents had never celebrated her birthdays or at least that she could remember. Bailey deserved a fair shot at a normal childhood. He shouldn't be punished because she'd had a crappy childhood. And she'd been at Zola's birthday party. It was only fair that she be at Bailey's too. She didn't want Bailey to grow up and look at the videos and pictures from his sister's first party and see both his parents, then wonder why there were no pictures or videos of his mother at his birthday parties. She didn't want either of her children to think she loved the other more. She loved both of her children equally.

"Meredith, everything will be fine," Derek assured her. "Chris and Angie are at the house with Amy getting the food and cake ready. Nancy's occupying the kids at the park and picking Mom up at the airport at three."

At this point, the only reason she and Derek had half of their sanity left was because of the glorious help of his sisters. Amelia, very much to her displeasure, was supposed to be taking it easy. She wasn't officially on bed rest, but she wasn't supposed to stand for long consecutive periods of time, and making runs all over the hospital was out of the question. Derek and Meredith weren't comfortable leaving the kids alone with her at this point, not because they didn't trust her, but because they didn't want to risk her putting too much strain on herself and the baby. That's where Nancy and her son and his fiancée had come in to save the day.

Chris, Derek's eldest nephew and Nancy's eldest son, and his very pregnant, due-any-day fiancée, Angie, had come into town the night before with Nancy. The day after her arrival in Seattle, Nancy had mounted up to Vancouver to visit her son and daughter-in-law to be. Meanwhile, Lizzie and Kathleen had made their peace with Amelia and had returned home to their respective families. Currently, the Shepherd siblings were all in a very good place, or so they seemed to be.

After child services had called Meredith and Derek to tell them that Blake had not been placed and that they were considered a suitable home for him to live, Meredith and Derek had rushed home to prepare their home to pass child service's inspection. Surprisingly so, they had managed to pass without any additional havoc. In the meantime, Derek had continued to plead with Meredith to take on the fellowship. She had doubts, not knowing how they could take on another child and she a fellowship. After all, she didn't want him to give up any more for her. He'd given up enough, and she didn't want him to end up resenting her.

"Fatherhood, Meredith. It's what I was meant to do. It's all I've ever wanted. Neurosurgery is my career. I love being a neurosurgeon, but no feeling can compare to fatherhood. I've done the surgeon thing. I've seen the other side. Now, it's your turn to shine," Derek had assured her, while convincing her to go with the fellowship. His twinkling, dreamy eyes assured her that there was true meaning in the words he spoke, even though she was still skeptical. She hated the thought of him resenting her down the line. He was still Chief of Neurosurgery at Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital, and he continued to consult. Now, he was passing all his surgeries off to her. So, they'd work together during the day, and then he'd go home in the afternoon. So far, they'd had four surgery dates; four dates that had been thoroughly enjoyed by them both. Those four surgeries resurrected the highs of her intern days. Derek's presence in the OR definitely had an influence on her like no other, though Neuro with or without Derek made her happy in ways she simply couldn't explain.

He pressed his lips against hers and moaned into her mouth, "A quickie."

"A quickie," she repeated, breaking the kiss. She ran her hands under his shirt and rubbed her hands over his bare nipples and helped him remove his navy blue scrub shirt. He ripped her scrub top off, and quickly they tore each other's clothes off. His lips tantalized her collarbone and she let out a soft moan as he stuck one finger inside her.

"Oh, Der," she moaned as he gently stroked her folds. "We don't have time for foreplay." A giggle escaped her lips as he kissed her belly button; a moan elicited from her lips.

"We can make time," he teased; he pushed another finger inside her and plunged deep into her wetness, sending shocks of pleasure up her spine, making her beg for him. He removed both of his fingers then shifted his body over her. He started moving his hips. He moved his hips faster, going deeper with each thrust. Meredith gasped for air, her head spinning out of control.

"Oh, Derek!" she moaned, panting, as his thrusts slowed then quickened then slowed again, sending her muscles into uncontrollable spasms. Derek knew how to drive her mad. He knew exactly what she liked. No one had ever known her body like Derek did.

Together, they climaxed. They knew each other's bodies so well that they could both climax in under five minutes when time was scarce. Derek collapsed on top of her and pressed his ear on her chest, seeming to be listening to the sound rhythms of her heart beat. He stretched his right arm and grabbed her right hand, cupping his hand over hers and twining their fingers together. "I love you," he whispered, his hot breath pressed against her eardrum. Her her heart fluttered.

"Now I don't want to get up," she sighed, savoring the brief moment of relaxation. Half teasingly, she rolled her eyes, "Look what you've done." It wasn't long before her muscles began to tense as she remembered a craniotomy she needed to perform shortly.

"I guess that's your way of saying Thank you, Derek, for the mindblowing orgasm," Derek teased with a smirk on his face. Meredith wasn't humored, though.

"I really need to go," she insisted. She saw the frown on his face and sighed, "Thank you for the orgasm, Derek." She leaned forward and pecked his lips. "Now, please get off me."

He sighed, sitting up so she could move her legs and arms freely.

She dressed and looked at herself in the mirror, sighing. Her ponytail was falling out and her face was flushed. "Do I look like I just had sex, Derek?"

He stood directly behind her; she could see from his reflection in the mirror that he was also fully dressed. He placed his hands on her shoulders and whispered in her ear, "If I did my job correctly."

"Derek, this isn't funny. I'm a student again. I'm a fellow, and I have something to prove. I swear to God, if I took this fellowship only to fail, I won't be able to live with myself," she sighed, crossing her arms, wishing Derek would understand where she was coming from, but his face didn't convince her that he did. After all, it had been years since he himself had been a student.

"Well, I'd say you're off to a pretty good start," Derek teased with a smirk on his face. "Sleeping with your attending, I mean. That's your thing, right?"

Again, she was not humored. Meredith rolled her eyes. "Derek, this isn't funny. I'm being serious!" She glared at him, and he sighed, lowering his hands on her waist.

"Meredith," he spoke softly. "You are a gifted surgeon. You don't need anyone to tell you that. You just need to believe in yourself. I am proud to be your husband." He grinned with pride on his face; glowing twinkles shined in both his eyes. "Now, I can't have you going into an OR thinking you're going to screw up. It's not good for you or the patient. You can't be distracted. If you don't want to do this surgery, just say so, and I'll do it and you can go home and get ready for the party. Then you know you'll be there for sure. I know how important it is for you to not miss our son's first birthday party."

She inhaled a deep breath of air and shook her head. "No, I have this. We can't switch places because then you might not be there, and I don't want you to miss Bailey's birthday. We both need to be there. And you're right. I have this. I've done three craniotomies since I started my fellowship. Three flawless craniotomies." She paused, catching her breath. Her eyes widened. "I've got this. In and out."

"In and out," Derek repeated, smiling. He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Everything will work out perfect. I'll go home and help get the house ready. Nancy will come home with Mom and the kids, and then we'll be ready to go. Who's the resident on your case?"

"Warren," she replied. "Bailey's husband."

"He's good," Derek nodded. He kissed her one more time. "I'll see you at home."

And they departed the on-call room together, walking in separate directions.


The operating room was one place that Meredith didn't have time to dwell on the outside world. It was an escape. Some people had drugs. Meredith had surgery. And as she stood behind her patient's head, a thirty-four-year-old mother of three, preparing to make a skin incision into the woman's skull, she didn't have time to think about anything more than the incision. She didn't have time to reflect on how she was bent out of shape about the possibility of missing her son's birthday party, when there was a possibility that this woman's children may never see their mother alive again. All brain surgeries were accompanied with severe risks, including hemorrhaging, seizures, and paralysis. Of course, those were the worst case scenarios. Milder risks were much more common, which included muscle weakness and various infections. Meredith didn't have time to think of the outcomes, though. There were risks with every surgery, and she knew that when she became a surgeon. Of course, no one becomes a surgeon thinking about the negative outcomes. Surgeons become surgeons to save lives. At least, most do.

Meredith sometimes questioned why she became a surgeon, though. To save lives, yes, but also because it seemed like some sort of "rite of passage." Her mother had been an extraordinary surgery who, even though she had been a crappy mother, Meredith had looked up to. She wanted to prove to her mother that she, too, could be extraordinary.

She wasn't thinking about that as she made a careful skin incision behind the patient's hairline. Meredith felt her heart pounding anxiously as she made her first cuts. A rush of excitement gushed inside her body; her stomach tingled; and she felt like a little girl who was about to open her first Christmas present on Christmas morning: that's how she felt every time she cut into a human brain. It was a feeling like no other. A feeling she had never been able to feel in General surgery or any other specialty.

And it was at that moment Meredith realized she was exactly where she belonged.

A typical craniotomy takes three to five hours barring any complications. After the skin incision was made, Meredith prepared to perform the actual craniotomy, which consisted of opening the skull. The skin and muscles were lifted off the bone and folded back. She inserted a special saw through the burr holes, using the craintome to cut the outline of a bone flap. She lifted the bone flap and removed it, exposing the protective covering of the brain, called the dura. She passed the bone flap off to a scrub nurse, who would be responsible for ensuring the bone flap was safely stored until the surgery was over.

Meanwhile, Dr. Warren assisted her in opening the dura with surgical scissors. She folded the dura back, exposing the brain, placing the retractors on the brain to very gently open a corridor to the area of the brain that needed repairing.

Hours passed as Meredith focused her full attention on her patient's brain. One wrong move could cause her patient paralysis. Or worse: death. It was a scary thought that Meredith didn't like to think about while she was working. It was an outcome she couldn't afford to think about. For surgeons, regardless of specialty, it was important to focus on the present, not the possible future. For neurosurgeons, focus was key. Every little detail was important.

After she'd completed the craniotomy, she prepared to close up. Surgery had gone smooth. Meredith was reluctant to look at the clock until she finished closing, because she couldn't risk being tempted to rush. She wanted to make it home for her son's birthday, but right now, she held a human life in her hands, and that had to be her first priority.

She finished by placing the bone flap back in its original position and closing the patient completely. She exhaled a sigh of relief.

"We're done," she said. She smiled at Warren and glanced at the clock. It was four-thirty. Crap. Clearly, she had moved slower than she had planned. Even if she managed to scrub out, change, and leave the hospital within the next fifteen minutes, it was unlikely she would be able to make it back to the house in time. She would be fighting rush hour traffic. It took a good forty-five minutes to get back to their house during rush hour traffic. That was one of the negatives of living in the middle of nowhere. "Warren, can you handle it from here?" she asked her resident.

"I've got it," Warren insisted. "I'll monitor her vitals and page you if I need you."

"Thank you," Meredith said gratefully. She scrubbed out and headed to the Attendings' lounge to change. Her iPhone buzzed as she was waiting for the elevator (which was moving unusually slow, or maybe she was just being overly impatient). Derek was calling her. She exhaled sharply, groaning as she answered, "Look, I know I'm running late. I just got out of surgery…"

"Oh, good, you're still at the hospital. I was hoping you'd still be there." The sense of relief that was present in Derek's voice confused Meredith.

"Wait? What? How is that a good thing?" Meredith asked, rubbing her forehead, attempting to make sense of why Derek could possibly be hoping she was still at the hospital.

"I forgot something in my office, and I was hoping you could pick it up for me," Derek explained. The NIH had come and packed up the items that belonged to them after he'd resigned, though the hospital had allowed him to keep the larger office space.

"Okay, what did you forget? I was just about to change and head home," Meredith explained breathlessly. "But I guess I could make a quick stop by your office." As far as she knew, she was the only person with a spare key to his office.

"That would be great," Derek released a sigh of relief.

"Okay, what do you need me to get?" Meredith asked, stepping onto the elevator, pressing the floor that her husband's office was on.

"What?" Derek sounded confused.

"Um, what did you forget? You said you forgot something, but you didn't say what," Meredith pointed out; now she, too, was perplexed.

"Oh, right! Um...there's a manila envelope on my desk. It's sitting by my computer. You can't miss it," Derek answered quickly.

"Okay," she said slowly, deciding not to ask what was in the envelope, though she was curious. She couldn't imagine that Derek actually planned on doing something work-related during their son's first birthday party. "Did Nancy pick up your mom from the airport?"

"Yeah, Mom's here. Everything's looking good. Don't worry, Meredith. I should let you go now. See you soon," Derek said hurriedly, and he ended the call before Meredith had a chance to respond.

Okay, she thought, that was weird, reflecting on Derek's rushed voice, and the strange mission he was sending her on for a manila envelope. She decided not to read too into it, though, because she would end up driving herself crazy. Derek should know by now that saying Don't worry to her only made her worry more. Meredith hoped that everything was truly looking good, as Derek had said. So, she walked toward Derek's office, not passing a single doctor on her way. She did, however, pass numerous nurses and orderlies.

The next signal that something was off came when Meredith arrived in front of Derek's office, where she discovered the door was already wide open. Again, as far as she knew, she was the only person with a spare key. Something's not right, Meredith thought anxiously; her heart pounded vigorously as she prepared herself to enter the office space, fearing the person or persons who may be inside. Standing in the doorway, she froze and was taken aback when she locked eyes with the person sitting at her husband's desk.


A/N: Thought I'd go ahead and post what I have written. Originally, this chapter was going to be much longer, but I thought this would be a fun cliffhanger. :) I'm grateful for all of you who are still with me. If you're still reading and haven't reviewed in a while, please don't be shy. I love hearing from my readers.