A/N: It's been a long time since I updated this, but, anyway…

Enjoy!

It was a quiet day at the hospital. In fact, since Herman's operation, it had been a quiet week. Arizona had just dropped Sofia off in daycare and was now working on her discharges. There was only one today, the most important. Glenda Castillo. She took a deep breath and walked towards her room, nodding to Bailey as she neared as well. She strode confidently into her patient's room, Bailey clipping behind her with a wheelchair.

"Oh! Hey, Glenda! Just about ready to go?" Arizona asked.

"Oh my God, so ready," Glenda replied, standing up from her perch on the bed. "And no offense, but I am so done with looking at this boring room."

"Well," Bailey braked the wheelchair and walked toward the woman, giving her a thorough once over and gently patting her shoulder. "Enjoy the fresh air while you can, I will see you in a month for your post-op check-up, and… in the meantime, get some rest, take it easy, eat well."

Glenda leaned in and hugged Bailey. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," Bailey said. "Dr. Robbins both saved your life, and your son's," Bailey motioned to Arizona.

Glenda turned and faced her. She took a few steps toward the blonde and stretched her arms around her. Arizona returned the hug. A strange bittersweet feeling overcame her. She had saved Glenda. But Herman was still unconscious, so it felt strange to be here. Nicole should be here too, Arizona thought. She should be getting a hug.

"Um…I don't know if you guys can tell me, but… how's Dr. Herman?" Glenda asked.

Arizona drew up a breath, "she's um… still recovering," she said softly. "She hasn't woken up yet… but, we're still optimistic," she said. Herman was gonna wake up, right?

"Recovery from brain surgery isn't predictable, like most surgeries." Bailey added. She gently ushered Glenda into the wheelchair."But like you, Dr. Herman is, and will, continue to receive our very best care."

After seeing off Glenda, Arizona passed Dr. Herman's room in the neuro ICU and stopped. No change. She walked into the room, watching as Herman's chest moved up and down mechanically. It just seemed so insurmountable. Herman felt cold and she adjusted the blanket higher, to help regulate her temperature. It'd been almost four days now. Lexie and Amelia had assured her that Herman's scans were good, her sats normal for a patient in this condition, but…

She hadn't woken up.

"Hey," Callie said. Arizona blinked and looked up at her wife as she entered and sat beside her.

She felt her Callie's hand on her knee. "She's gonna wake up," she said.

"She might," Arizona said. But realistically, Nicole might not wake up. "And if she doesn't…" she heaved a shuddering breath. Three more days, she had. And then... "I'm going to have to make some decisions." A flux of tears pushed through the eyelid curtain. "I can't do this by myself," Arizona muttered. "I know what she wants, but I don't think I can make that call on my own." She'd never done this before, called time of death on a friend. Ended it. Whether it was their wish or not.

There was a pat, a gentle squeeze. "Hey," Callie said. "You are not by yourself, okay? You're not alone, do you hear me?"

Arizona looked into Callie's deep dark browns, her soft, expressive but strong face, and finally gave in, resting her head on her shoulder.

xxx

Amelia sipped her coffee while she stared at footage of Herman's surgery. She had been here all night analysing every vessel, every move of her dissectors, every piece of tumor removed. It was already late in the morning, but she couldn't get it out of her head. Why wasn't Herman waking up? The surgery had gone just about as good as she could have made it.

"Stop," She heard Richard say. He reached down and tapped a button on the remote. The video paused on the image of her forceps gripping a mouthful of greyish tumor. "Go home," he said.

But Amelia couldn't pry herself from the chair. Couldn't pry her eyes away from the brutal monster she'd excised. Something had to be wrong. "I need to figure this out," she said.

"You need a break," Richard said. "Go home. Meredith said Anna was asking about you."

Amelia missed the little squirt too. But this was too important. She continued to stare at the screen and the scans and the chart. "There's no swelling, no edema. I don't know why she's not awake."

"It could be any number of reasons," Richard said.

Amelia swiveled in her seat to face him. She was a neurosurgeon, chief of her department. She'd done this for years..."Don't you think I know every possible thing it could be?" she snapped.

"But it wasn't because of you," Richard said, leaning in.

Amelia wasn't so sure about that. Something was wrong. "Sorry," she muttered. "I just need… I need her to wake up."

Later, she ordered more scans while Herman lay as still as the day after her surgery. It bothered her. No change. She sat there in radiology with Edwards while the scans came up. When they did, she stared, and stared and stared. It all blurred and together. Nothing seemed wrong. Yet… something was. Something had to be.

"Is that-" Edwards started.

"What?" Amelia blinked as the pictures unmerged in her tired eyes.

"I don't know, it's probably nothing. It's tiny."

"What?" she asked again. Her eyes were shot from watching video all night. Of course she missed something. And Edwards was sharp. It was why she was on her team.

"Is that a small lacunar infarct right there?" Edwards pointed with a pen at the top left image. "Did she have a stroke?"

Amelia stared at it, realizing the smidgen of blob for what it was. "Good work Edwards," she said.

xxx

Mark sauntered to the daycare with Sofia's lunch in hand. Callie had texted him earlier and he gladly volunteered to take Arizona's place for lunchtime with Sofia.

"Grey?" Mark said, seeing his friend at a tiny table with Zola amongst the youngsters. "What are you doing here? I thought you were taking leave."

"Oh, I had to get out of the house and Bailey asked me to scrub in on a liver resection today," she said, watching Zola. The girl's poofy hair bounced as she trotted over with new teacups and teapot.

"Where's Anna?" Mark looked around for the rascally other half, surprised she hadn't run up to him already.

"Carolyn took her to buy new clothes." Meredith said.

"Tea?" Zola asked, putting down a cup in front of her.

"Thank you, Zola," Meredith held out a cup for Zola to pour into.

"You're welcome," Zola flashed a white-toothed smile at her mama.

As if she couldn't help herself, Meredith took Zola into her arms and held her tight, kissing and stroking her hair.

"What are you doing here?" she asked Mark.

"Just pitching in for Arizona," he said, taking a seat. "She doesn't want to leave Herman's side right now. So I'm gonna look after Sofia. Isn't that right, baby girl. Mama has to look after her friend, so you're gonna get extra daddy time," he cooed to Sofia as she approached.

"Papi!"

Meredith laughed. "Zola, you wanna give uncle Mark and Sofia some tea?"

Zola turned and poured pretend tea into his cup.

"Muchas gracias, Zola." Mark said, raising his cup.

"Fia?" Zola asked.

"Okay," the taller girl held up a cup.

"It's weird," Meredith said, "I feel like an intern all over again. I'm terrified, but thrilled too." She sighed. Mark, I never thought-"

She'd be a mother? Mark nodded. "I know." He never thought he'd be a father. Or an uncle, for that matter. But here they were, sitting in the daycare with their offspring.

"Even when Derek and I were together, I wasn't a hundred percent convinced motherhood was for me. But that day… Mark, those two hours before everything went…" The corners of her mouth quivered.

"I know," he whispered.

"I was really happy."

Zola came over with a coloring book and clunked it on the table in front of her. Meredith rubbed her daughter's back.. "Derek would think she's adorable. He would love Zola."

Mark watched, proud for Zola, but missing Derek all the same too. His brother would indeed be all over this feisty kid. "Yeah."

Meredith sighed. "Enough about me, how are you? How's your better half?" she asked, switching topics.

His better half? Ha ha. But he smiled, thinking of Lexie, the love of his life. It had been two days since she upchucked her breakfast, so that was probably a good sign. "She's ah… she's good, thanks," he said. He had to be careful. She was getting a little hormonal, so he didn't want to share too many details. Like the fact she purchased six pregnancy books yesterday.

"She's freaking out," Meredith read his mind.

"She's freaking out," he nodded. "But the puking's stopped, for the most part. I no longer buy fish, or fish products." No tuna, no salmon, no fake crab or fishsticks. It's all gone."

"Just wait a few weeks," Meredith said. "When I was pregnant, I kept craving hot wings and cantaloupe. And I stole all of April's poptarts."

Mark laughed. "Don't worry, I'll take care of Little Grey.."

"Good," Meredith said. She looked up at a woman looking into the daycare, seeing her strange look. "What's her problem? You know, people have been giving Zola and I weird looks all day."

"It's the cultural divide." Mark said. Of course people would stare at a white woman holding a black child. They just didn't understand. "But don't worry, we're great doctors with great kids, no matter how we came across them," he assured. "Isn't that right Sofia?" He patted her cheek as she coloured next toe Zola. "Te quiero tanto mi chica bonita que no dejaré que te pase nada a ti o a Zola."

"Cultural divide," Meredith scoffed. "I'll give them a cultural divide."

xxx

Just after lunch, Amelia was on her way to the neuro icu when her pager shrilled. It was Edwards. Herman was waking up. Her light gait became a heavy jog through the double doors to Herman's bedside.

Her resident was already unhooking the vent as Arizona looked on.

"It's okay, it's okay," Amelia soothed, coming up beside them. "Cough," she said, gently tugging on the tube as Herman hacked. "Go ahead, cough. That's it."

"Mommy?" Nicole asked weakly, free of the tube. "Mommy is that you?"

Mommy? Amelia exchanged a worried glance with her colleagues. That didn't sound normal. Had there been more damage than she'd been able to see?

"Nicole?" Arizona asked.

"God," Herman croaked, "I'm fine." A smile creeped across her face, though her eyes were still half closed.

"Do you know where you are?" Amelia began her standard neuro exam.

"Same place I always am," she answered. I'll take that as a yes, Amelia thought.

"Do you know your name?"

"Uh That hasn't changed either," Herman replied.

Okay then. Amelia continued her exam. "Squeeze my hands." Herman squeezed moderately with both hands, "good." Amelia moved on, pulling out her penlight. "Follow the light, okay?" she flashed the light in Herman's eyes. But her eyes did not track the light, and her pupils did not retract normally. She was blind.

"It's okay, I'm all right, it's okay." she turned slightly in Amelia's direction. "You got it all, didn't you?" she asked.

Amelia couldn't respond just yet.

"Edwards," Herman persisted. "She got it all?"

"Yeah," Edwards said, "She got it all" she choked and sniffed.

"Hey, no crying. No crybabies here," she said. "Remember, I brought the tumor, that made you look pretty good."

Edwards gathered the E.T tube and the medical waste on her chest and left to dispose of it, sniffing as she left. Herman touched Amelia's arm. "Give us a second, would ya? Robbins and I have some work."

Amelia nodded. She felt immense relief that Herman was awake and cognizant, though the blindness still bothered her. Of course Arizona and Herman were close, and needed some time. She would come back, do a more thorough exam and a scan later.

She needed time too.

xxx

"Clamping the Iliac," Meredith said. "Whew!" The surgery had been going well with just a couple snags, and Meredith was happy to be doing something that stimulated her so, after a week at home with her four-year olds.

"Tired, Grey?" Bailey asked, tossing in a few stitches on the exposed tissue.

"My girls are great. I love them. But they're energizer bunnies on crack. And I swear they've got telepathic powers." She said. It had been quite the week with Anna and Zola. The parental learning curve was huge. Her girls got into everything, they wanted to go everywhere and do everything. Anna climbed and jumped. Zola ran and twirled. And they had so many questions. What are you doing? Why? What's this? When is lunch? Can we go to the park? Why not?

It was enough to drive her up the wall. Almost.

"I miss surgery," she said. She missed adult conversation, honestly. Fixing things with her hands, the warm mess of someone's insides.

"Mm." Bailey said. "Five-oh prolene." The nurse palmed her the tool as she started to close. "When Tuck was four, I bought him some magic markers. Know what he did? coloured himself green from head to toe. Even his bottom. Even his… you know what."

"What? Why?" Meredith scrunched her nose, trying to imagine it.

Bailey chortled. "He said he was The Hulk."

"The Hulk? Seriously?" Meredith smiled as she pulled out the retractor and grabbed a towel to dab around the incision line.

"Seriously… That boy." Bailey shook her head. "Know what he wanted to be for Halloween one year?"

"Um… Spiderman?"

"He wanted to be a fart, Grey."

"A f-fart?" That earned a laugh as she tried to imagine Tuck dressed as a 'fart'

"Mm-hmm. Imagine making a costume for that." Bailey said, finishing the last tie.

Oh yeah, Halloween! "Crap. I gotta learn how to do that for Halloween this year," she said. Because, despite her doubts, she wanted to be the best mother she could be. And good moms made good Halloween costumes, didn't they?

"I wouldn't worry about that." Bailey said as they scrubbed out.

Meredith shook her head, "I don't know, people have been giving me and Zola weird looks all day. I mean come on, it's 2015, of course there's gonna be white parents of black kids. Is that a bad thing? God, some people are so-"

"Grey, stop talking, fool!"

Her tone took Meredith aback and she looked up. "What?" she asked, wiping her hands dry.

"Those people are not staring at you two because you're white and Zola's black. they're staring at you because you have nice, pretty hair, but your daughter's hair looks 31 flavors of wrong! It's hard on the eyes! Do your baby's hair!"

She said it with such force Meredith jumped. Hair? They were staring at them because of Zola's hair? She hadn't really considered it. For the last few days it had just been the three of them. And getting Zola to sit still in the morning was like trying to wrangle a slippery fish. "Well, okay then," she said, shocked.

xxx

Arizona came home late and closed the door behind her. The house was quiet. She padded into her daughter's room and leaned against the door frame, just watching Sofia breathe under the covers.

"'Zona?" Callie murmured behind her as she came in from the bathroom.

"Hey."

"I heard Herman's awake," she said. "That's great."

"Yeah…" she smiled and took Callie's hand. "It is," she said. "Come here," she pulled her wife into their bedroom. She pulled her down to sit. "Dr. Herman made fun of me, she called me a horse," she laughed.

"Okay…?" Callie turned to her.

"She said… I'm always just to the left of the point."

"Oh? Um… is that a good thing?"

"I'm alive, Callie." she squeezed her hand. "I'm alive and I get to experience this life. With you. And Sofia… and-" She stopped and pulled her wife closer to her lips.

xxx

"Now, what you wanna do is pull her hair up… like this." Bailey gently stroked Zola's parted hair with a soft brush as she took in her locks.

Zola sat at the kitchen table, patiently holding still while Bailey showed Meredith how to do her hair.

"Maggie, I didn't know Zola has a kitchen!" Meredith beamed as her sister came in.

Maggie smiled, "I know all about Zola's kitchen. Sorry, Mere, I wanted to help-"

"Mommy where's Zola's kitchen? I want one too!" Anna screeched as she ran through the doors, dumping her dolls on the table.

"Zola's kitchen isn't exactly a kitchen, like this kitchen," Meredith said.

"How can a kitchen not be a kitchen?" Anna stuck a cookie in her mouth.

"Uh-"

"Girl," Bailey said. "You ask more questions than the interns. Zola's kitchen is called a kitchen because it's in the back of the head. Kitchens are usually in the back of the house, and a little girl's kitchen is this little nappy part in the back. See?"

Anna scrunched her nose, looking at the cute kinky hair in the back. "Where's the fridge?" Then she laughed with a mouthful of cookie. "Just kidding!"

"Okay," Bailey regarded Meredith again. "What you gotta do is brush with the soft brush. Brush it up, and..." she encouraged as Meredith copied her movements, leading to a second pigtail.

"Oh wow!" Meredith gently fluffed Zola's poofy hair. It felt softer now that Bailey had worked on it.

"And remember, moisturize. Everyday. Just a little coconut oil, or castor oil, keeps it from matting.

"Castor oil, got it." Meredith nodded. "Wanna see, Zola?" Meredith picked up a hand mirror and held it up. Zola took the mirror and examined herself.

"Wow, I look pretty." she grinned brightly, admiring herself in the mirror.

"So pretty," Meredith agreed.

Anna carefully examined her sister's hair. "It's bouncy," she said "Mommy, can I get my hair like that?"

"Oh," Meredith stammered. She was a surgeon, not a hairstylist! Um well, I can't make your hair quite poofy like that, but… I can make pigtails, you like pigtails?"

"Okay."

Meredith held up a brush while Bailey nodded. "Okay!"

xxx

"We were so close," Stephanie stood in front of the scans.

"We were more than close, Edwards." Amelia said. She was done with this. Playing this game. "Dr. Herman lost her sight to her tumour. We took revenge on the tumour by killing it. By tearing it out and decimating it. Decreasing its odds of killing Nicole by 100%. We sent death running like a crying bitch. Told it to screw itself…" She picked up the remote and pointed it at the screens, shutting them off, one by one.

"That is the battle. And it is the only battle worth fighting. You should be on a high right now. And you should be chasing that high for the rest of your life. You defeated death. Mere mortals cannot do that. Only we can."

"Only superheroes." Stephanie said.

"Only freaking superheroes," she replied softly. It had taken her hours of thinking and reliving the surgery. But Herman woke up, and Amelia decided she won. She gave a nod to her resident, and turned to the door, about to leave, when a familiar figure caused her to gasp. "Owen. You're back."

xxx

A/N: Thanks again for reading! Don't forget to leave a review!