"So what are you and the kids up to today?" Meredith asked rolling over to look at Nathan.

"We are headed out with Jackson and Alex."

"Where are the three of you taking them? Hope it is somewhere child friendly," she teased.

"Jackson has Harriett today too. So we are headed to the Museum of Pop Culture," he said.

"Sounds fun. Wish I could come."

"You'd have to be in a wheelchair with your leg elevated," he reminded her.

"Ug! Go! I'll stay here with my book," she said. She really hated missing out on family activities, but they would have so much more fun without her in a wheelchair. Plus it sounded like a great day out for all of them. She loved that Alex and Jackson were becoming friends with Nathan.

"Are you reading for pleasure today?" he said.

"Yes. I'm caught up on my reading for work. And there is a new Outlander book out, so I thought I'd get started on it."

"We might all come back here for dinner," he said kissing her.

"No problem. But let's do pasta or tacos, not pizza."

Alex, Jackson and Nathan had a great time at the Museum of Pop Culture. They loved the exhibits on Hendrix: Wild Blue Angel, Nirvanah: Taking Punk to the Masses, and Pearl Jam: Home and Away. They loved looking at the guitars in the Guitar Gallery

The kids spent over an hour playing in the sound lab and loved the guitars that were set out for playing. Zola had even convinced Alex to play for them and he taught them a couple of cords so they could play. The Sound lab was amazing but Jackson and Nathan both agreed that it was very loud in there. Jackson had taken Ellis and Harriett to the play area where the slide and other equipment was shaped like instruments.

The staff had a drawing station setup with a youth leader in the Fantasy: Worlds of Myth and Magic exhibit and Zola and Bailey sat down and worked hard at their masterpieces. The four kids played dress up in the Fantasy area. In the Minecraft: The Exhibition exhibit they sat and coloured on the colouring sheets while Nathan, Alex and Jackson enjoyed a few minutes of quiet.

They decided they would head to a local breakfast diner and eat there as the kids would love the crepes and smoothies. They had no arguments from the kids as they left the museum and loaded into the cars. Lunch was a success and the two youngest were ready for a nap. Jackson suggested he take Harriett and Ellis home and put them down while Nathan and Alex took the older two to the park. The weather had cleared and it was a beautiful day so the older two thought it was a great idea.

Jackson had hid the 'nap' request by suggesting a video that the older two kids thought was for babies. Harriett and Ellis quickly agreed to head to his place, snuggle and watch their movie. He snuggled them into his bed, each with a sippy cup of water, and turned on the movie on the large wall mounted TV in his room. Like he thought, the girls were out within 15 minutes and slept for 2 hours. He took the quiet time to sit and read a couple of journals and found himself drifting to sleep too. It was unlike him to nap, but after the crazy week and being pulled into a few long emergency surgeries he needed the downtime.

"Mommy, Uncle Alex taught me the guitar!" Zola said as she raced into the house.

"Wow! You are a lucky girl," Meredith says placing a bookmark in her book.

"Bay, what did you like?"

"The drums and computers. And the park," he said.

"You went to the park?"

"Yes without the little ones," Nathan said walking in.

"Where are they?"

"Jackson took them home for a nap."

"But he said they were watching a baby movie," Zola said.

"Movie then nap," Nathan said.

"Smart man, Harriett doesn't like naps and really fights them. Are they coming over later?"

"Yes with April. And I dropped Alex off at the hospital so he could get Jo from work."

"Did you bring groceries home for dinner?"

"We did. I'm going to throw the roast beef into the instapot for shredded beef for our tacos."

"Fancy!" she teased.

"Callie sent me her recipe. I thought it would be good with all of us. You never know who else might show up."

"It won't be me bringing home strays from the hospital."

"No, but your partner in crime, Alex, is at the hospital right now," he laughed, taking the groceries to the kitchen and starting to prepare dinner.

Meredith was glad that Nathan had planned for lots of food as Amelia arrived with Crystal just before dinner as did Maggie. So with one instapot of shredded mexican beef, another instapot of black beans, onions and peppers, the rice cooker filled with rice the meal was coming together. Soft taco shells, shredded lettuce, steamed corn, sour cream, cheddar, and fresh gourmet salsa and guacamole picked up at the mexican deli. April had brought a veggie platter for their littlest bunnies, also known as Ellis and Harriet, a platter of carrots, cucumbers and sliced peppers. There was plenty of food, and wonderful leftovers for the following week.

After dinner the adults sit and chat while the kids head off to play. Amelia and Chrystal head out first as Amelia wanted to ensure they were home for bedtime. The three couples sat around the living room while Maggie went off to play with Zola and Bailey before she left. Alex and Jo finally got up as Alex noticed Jo was falling asleep on his shoulder. By the time Jackson and April go to leave Harriett is sound asleep curled with Ellis. "April, just leave her. You can pick her up tomorrow," Meredith said.

"Are you sure?" April asked.

"Not a problem," Meredith says as she overheard Jackson whisper about alone time.


Sunday morning Nathan woke early as he had to be in the hospital early. Kissing Meredith, he said, "Sorry to wake you but I have to leave."

"It's early."

"I've been called in early," he said.

"Were other's called in? Or just you?" she said checking her pager.

"It was just me. They need another cardio surgeon in."

"OK. I'll try and make waffles."

"Zola is a big help. You'll be OK."

"Have a good day," she says kissing him one last time before he heads out.

"You too. Don't overdo it. Get the au pairs to take the kids to the park to burn energy."

"Good idea," she said, setting her alarm for 7:30 and snuggling back under the covers for another hour or so of rest. Zola snuggled in her bed at 7:30 and they snuggled for a few minutes before finally deciding they needed to tackle the waffles.

Bailey, Ellis and Harriet all came down to the kitchen smelling the waffles. Bailey asked, "Where's Uncle Alex?"

"He's working this morning."

"And where's daddy?" Ellis asked.

"He got called into work. Harriet, your mom and dad will be over shortly. They were stopping to get some whipped cream, fruit and coffee."

April and Jackson arrived to see the four kids setting the table and the wonderful smell of waffles. Jackson asks, "Mer, did you do this?"

"Yes! And I didn't burn them, the house, or any kid!"

"Good job. I'll tell Alex that you can cook waffles."

"No don't, then he won't come over and spoil me," she said.

"How about you go sit and put your leg up, we can get everything on the table," Jackson said.

"Thanks."

"This is for you," April said, handing her a Hazelnut Latte.


Meredith's first few weeks back at work are spent teaching and working on her research. At first she was only in the skills lab working with different groups of students building their confidence and skill sets. She then spent time with the senior residents and fellows supervising their solo surgeries and teaching advanced techniques. By the end of her second week on limited duty she was getting tired of just teaching. "Callie, I need to cut! Can I do surgery?" she says walking into Callie's office.

"Let's check you out. I'd rather you wait until mid next week so it's been three weeks, but last week's scan looked pretty good. Why don't we call Dr Khan to review this?" Callie. Dr Reza Khan was repeating his residency as he'd moved from Pakistan where he'd been a vascular surgeon.

"That's a good idea. What about meeting me in the lab with all the interns? We can review my case." she replied.

"You'll need blood work completed and an ultrasound machine with you," Callie said.

"I'll go talk to Dr Khan and get him to do my blood draw and have him prep to teach. I really like having him in surgery with me," Meredith adds.

"I've heard he's good. Are you going to push for a shortened residency?"

"I think so, or possibly see if he wants to double certify."


"Dr Avery, we need to talk," Meredith said, walking into Catherine's office.

"Yes, Dr Grey?"

"Was it you that advertised I was going to be in New Zealand?"

"Sorry, yes I meant to let you know, but you were out sick. I had a request after the conference from the University of Auckland and I knew you were already planning a trip. I thought you might be able to do a day of teaching as it made more sense to tack it onto your trip."

"I wouldn't fly just for one day of teaching," Meredith replies.

"No, I have too much trouble getting you on a plane at all!" she replies remembering back to the Awards ceremony.

"I'll confirm with Nathan, but we should be able to teach for a day, as long as they have childcare for the kids."

"Put childcare as a condition of your employment. If nothing else, they should be able to find a med student that can take your kids to the park or beach."

"Oh that poor student. Having to miss my lecture to watch my kids."