Slight mature content warning in the beginning of the chapter, fluff for the most part. Enjoy
The next morning, Meredith woke up before Hayes. She was so concerned that he'd freak out. No matter what she did, she just could not stop thinking about how he'd react. Of course, she'd be okay with whatever reaction he did have, but she knew deep down that she'd be a bit of a mess if he did freak out. She'd probably have a freak-out of her own, worrying herself to death about him. She got up, quietly and carefully, put on her undergarments and pants, and slipped back into bed. It was honestly impressive, just how deeply he slept. He never stirred, even as she got back into bed and rolled back into his embrace. She laid facing towards him, her hand on his cheek, stroking his face while he slept. His arm wrapped around her like it was something he'd done every day of his life.
About 15 minutes later, Hayes began to stir from his sleep. Meredith scooted herself over and backed off, just in case. To her surprise, he simply tightened his grip around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Though unexpected to her, she happily snuggled in close to him. She saw a small smile form on his face as she got closer to him, so she placed a small kiss on his lips and whispered, "Good morning." His eyes fluttered open, and all Meredith could think about was just how blue his eyes were in the sunlight shining through his window. "Morning," he said lowly, kissing her again and running his hand through her hair. His accent was much thicker right after waking up, and Meredith could get used to hearing it that way. "I'm glad you're okay." She said as he sat up in the bed, and she lay her head on his chest. He loosely ran his fingers through her hair and chuckled to himself. "The car accident was weeks ago, Grey." He said, looking down at her with a smirk. He knew exactly what she was referring to, but he decided to poke a little fun. She smacked his arm, laughing along with him. "You know what I meant."
"Yeah, I do. Abby didn't want me feeling guilty for moving on with someone who makes me happy. I'm okay because it's you. You make me happy." A genuine smile was permanently placed on his face, which was reassuring to Meredith. "You make me happy too." She placed her hand behind his neck and pulled him in for a deep kiss. It didn't take long for things to escalate between them again. His hands moved across the bare skin on her back, as he placed kisses along her collarbone and unclasped her bra, and his mouth traveled down to her chest. Her back arched into his touch and she could tell that he was enjoying every second of it. Even though they didn't take it all the way like they'd done the previous night, but Meredith couldn't complain about how her morning had started.
30 minutes later they'd both finally gotten out of bed and made their way into the kitchen. "What's your breakfast of choice?" He asked her as he turned on his Keurig. "I generally don't eat much of a breakfast. Usually just a granola bar or cereal if I have time." Hayes nodded knowingly. It was sometimes hard for him to sit down and eat an actual hearty breakfast as well. "Well, take a look in the pantry and take your pick. Austin and Liam eat practically everything in sight 24/7, so I've always got to keep it stocked."
As they sat on the couch and ate, they chatted about their upcoming schedules and tried to figure out if they'd have a day where they could work together in the near future. Luckily for them, they had a couple of similar shifts less than a week from that Saturday they had to look forward to. If all went in their favour, they could probably find a case or two to work together on. "Is there anything you want to do today?" Hayes asked as Meredith finished up her cereal and placed the bowl in the dishwasher. "I want to tell my kids about us today." She said confidently, turning back around with a half-smile. "I had to visibly sneak out of my house yesterday and make up some excuse to them so I could get here, and I don't want to have to do that anymore. I'd much rather be able to truthfully tell them where I'm going, when I come over to see you." Meredith explained further as she curled back up on the couch beside her boyfriend.
"I think we could do that. But I do want to take you out somewhere first." Hayes said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "I wouldn't mind going on a small walk through the trail in the park a couple of blocks down from here." She responded. She enjoyed walking through short trails and getting a little bit of exercise in while taking in the nature around her. She enjoyed it even more when Hayes was there with her. Meredith took Hayes' hand which was draped over her shoulder and laced their fingers together. "Maybe we can stay here for a few more minutes though." She said sweetly, nestling her head into his chest. Hayes smiled to himself, enjoying the peace and tranquility surrounding the two of them. It wasn't too often that they got moments like this, where conversation had moved to a comforting silence, and all that was needed was the comfort and touch of the other person as they held the other in their arms.
Their walk had been incredibly short and sweet, just what they'd needed before heading over to Meredith's house and telling her children that they were together. "What time do your boys get home tomorrow?" Meredith asked as she pulled into her driveway. "I think around… 3pm? What time does your shift end tomorrow?" He told her, understanding why she'd asked. They wanted to be together when they told their kids. "I can be over at your place for around 5pm. Does that work?" She said, grabbing his hand. "That works perfectly. You ready?" He squeezed her hand. "Definitely." She said, letting go and opening her car door. He did as well, and they both made their way into the house.
"Hey guys!" Meredith said to her children as their eyes lit up and they all ran to her when she walked in the door. "You remember Dr. Hayes, right?" The children nodded excitedly, especially Ellis. "What's he doing here?" Zola asked, looking up at him curiously. "Why don't you guys go sit down in the living room, and we can chat, okay?" Meredith said with a smile, as Hayes hung up his coat and entered the living room with the children, making small conversation. They all asked questions about his accent, which he was happy to answer because he loved talking about Ireland. Meredith came downstairs after putting her stuff away in her room, and smiled at the sight of Hayes interacting with her 3 kids, all of them smiling and getting along.
"Dr. Hayes is really funny mom." Zola said as she looked up at her mother. Meredith laughed and sat down in the living room. "I agree." Meredith said, hoisting Ellis onto her lap. "Is he your boyfriend?" Ellis asked innocently, looking between Meredith and Hayes with excitement. Meredith and Hayes' head immediately whipped towards each other; both of their faces filled with shock. They were both laughing, and Meredith hugged her youngest daughter. "Yeah, Ellie. He is. That was actually what we were going to talk to you guys about." They looked rapidly between all 3 children, trying to figure out which way each of them would react. Ellis was the first, with a big bright smile forming on her little face. "Yay!" She squealed, wrapping her arms around her mother's neck. Slowly but surely, smiles formed on Bailey and Zola's faces as well. "We like him already mama." Bailey said, holding out his first for Hayes to fist bump, which he quickly sent back with a smile on his face. "I like seeing you happy mom." Zola said as she smiled between the two adults. "I definitely am happy, Zozo. And we're very glad that you guys are happy as well."
The rest of the afternoon was spent with the kids asking Hayes practically every question under the sun, and half of them were about Austin and Liam, who's existences the young children were intensely excited about. Hayes was happy to answer all of their questions, and Zola appreciated that he asked questions about their dad as well. He'd made sure to tell them right after he told them about Austin and Liam, explaining to them that they'd lost their mom, so they understood what it was like to lose a parent, and that he could never think about trying to replace their dad. He simply told them that he would enjoy being involved in their lives in whatever capacity they decided they wanted. This made Zola and Bailey love him even more. After Hayes had left, they inundated their mom with even more questions throughout dinner and helped Amelia and Maggie tease Meredith throughout the night.
The next day after a surprisingly easy shift, Meredith made her way over to Hayes' house. She'd dressed up to an appropriate level, wanting to make a good enough first impression on the teenagers. She knew they might have a totally opposite reaction than the ones her kids had had, and she knew she would probably be staying for dinner that night. She knocked on the door to his townhouse, and he opened the door, greeting her with a smile and a quick kiss. "Don't worry, the boys are upstairs playing video games. As usual." Meredith laughed at that and pulled him in for a deeper kiss. After they'd pulled away and headed inside, Hayes called for his boys from the bottom of the stairs. "Lads, when you've finished your round of whatever game it is that you're playing, I need you two to come downstairs. We've got company, and I need to talk to you boys about something." Followed by okays from both of the boys. Hayes let out a shaky breath as he turned back towards Meredith. 5 minutes later, Austin and Liam emerged from their game room and made their way down the stairs.
"Oh, hi Dr. Grey." Liam said as he saw Meredith sitting on their couch. "Hey Liam, Hi Austin." She said with a smile. Austin gave her a small smile and waved at her. So far, so good. "What'd you need to talk to us about dad?" Austin asked as he sat in the recliner, and Liam sat on the one of the dining room chairs. Hayes calmly walked over and sat himself down beside Mer on the couch. "Uh, I don't know exactly how to break this lightly, but I wanted you boys to know that you're going to be seeing Dr. Grey over here more often. Because we're dating. Officially, and we have been for about a month now." He went silent and took a deep breath in, grabbing Meredith's hand for some comfort. "Wait, what?" Austin said quickly, sitting up straight in the chair. Hayes' heart just about sunk into his chest, fearing the absolute worst. "Ha ha, loser." Liam piped up, pointing at his brother. "You owe me $50 now." Liam grinned maniacally. "Oh, come on!" Austin responded, picking up the pillow closest to him and whipping it across the living room. Liam dodged masterfully and continued grinning. "Wait, boys, I'm confused. Care to explain yourselves?" Hayes asked, thoroughly confused.
"We could tell you've been crushing on Dr. Grey since you introduced us to her at the hospital 6 months ago. We've had a running bet on when you were going to ask her out for so long now. I guessed it'd take about as long as it did." Liam explained. Meredith laughed quietly at the interaction unfolding in front of her. "So, you guys aren't upset? At all?" Hayes asked, relief flooding him as the boys shook their heads no. "We haven't seen you smile this much since mom died. She wanted you to be happy, dad. So do we. But now I'm out 50 bucks, so thanks." Austin said with a sly grin. Hayes grinned at his boys and over at Meredith, who was almost close to tears. She hadn't expected this reaction from them at all. "I lost my husband about 6 years ago. My kids lost their dad, same as how you guys lost your mom. So every decision we make is done with all 5 of you kids in mind. I know my 3 kids miss their dad, but I also know that you guys were much older when you lost your mom. Your dad has told me so many stories about her, and I'm sure you guys have plenty as well. But I felt that was information you boys should know, because I want you guys to know that I understand not to deliberately infringe on any boundaries you boys want to set, and that any decision we make we want you guys to be involved in." Meredith said, and Hayes watched her lovingly as she explained her story to his boys.
"Thank you, Dr.-" Liam caught himself and looked to Meredith. This was his dad's new girlfriend - he didn't want to call her what his dad called her at work. "Meredith. Or Dr. Grey, whatever you guys are comfortable with." She said with a smile. "Meredith. It means a lot. Dad, can we go back to our game now?" Liam said, looking to his dad. He was met with a chuckle, and a go ahead. Both boys got up and headed upstairs. "Dinner is in 40!" Hayes called up and a thumb poked up from around the corner of the wall and then disappeared again. Meredith looked at her boyfriend with a smile and a laugh, collapsing into his shoulder. He rested his head on hers, running his thumb over the back of her hand. "That went much better than expected." Hayes admitted. "They're good kids." Mer told him. "As much as they test me somedays, yeah, they are. They're the best." He said with a smile as he thought about how glad he was that his kids looked like Abby. She was always with him through them. "You look beautiful." Hayes said after a few moments of silence, kissing the back of her hand. Meredith picked her head up off his shoulder, wrapping her free hand around his neck and pulling him in deeply for a kiss. She stroked his cheek with her thumb as they pulled away and stared deeply into each other's eyes. "I'm glad we decided to tell the kids. And I'm glad they all took it so well." She said, resting her forehead on his. "Me too." He said simply, kissing her forehead and pulling her in close for a hug.