A/N: So, it's been a while since I updated and I can explain why besides work and the hours that I have been working lately which has been a lot and with the holidays my department has been hectic but I lost all the chapters that I had written and forgot that they were saved on fanfiction so I finally have them again and can't wait to finish this story. Thank you all for your patience in waiting for me to update so this chapter is dedicated to all of you. Enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I only wish that I owned Grey's Anatomy but I do own the DVD's now

Dynasty

Chapter 14

It had been a few weeks since Derek had returned to being back with his family and around the people that he had left behind when working with the NIH and when he was held hostage. He was still getting used to being around people again but the therapist that he was seeing twice a week was helping him.

But the thing that was helping him the most was the fact that they had gone public with what had happened to him and even though some people didn't believe him about it the people who mattered the most did.

Both Meredith and Derek were back at work after taking some time off to get used to him being back they were back to Grey-Sloan doing what they loved and being around each other. Even though Derek wasn't back to operating yet until he stopped looking for Meredith whenever he got nervous.

Meredith walked out OR2 and wasn't surprised to see Derek waiting for her there, it had become a habit of his to wait outside the operating room that she in to wait for her. Derek wrapped his arms around Meredith's waist and pressed a kiss to her blonde hair that was tightly pinned to her head and asked, "How did it go?"

"It went fine Mr. Alverez is going to be fine as long as he takes at easy. But he'll probably be a better patient then you were."

Derek put on a face like he was saying who me before saying, "I'm wasn't used to being a patient after years of being a surgeon and then being treated like crap by the government. Have you made an appointment with Bailey to talk about changing specialties yet?"

"I have it's the day of Zola's father daughter dance but I made it late enough that I am going to be able to see the two of go to the dance before I come back and have the meeting with her. How pissed do you think that she is going to be?"

Derek pulled her closer to him as some of the new residents walked closer to him to take a look at the board as he still wasn't used to being around the new people that were at the hospital yet. He watched them out of the corner of her eye as he stated, "Well you're contract for being a general surgeon is just about to be up so I don't think that Bailey will be to mad about that the thing that she is going to be pissed about is losing her head of general surgery. But we both knew that if I hadn't forced you out of neuro you would have become a neurosurgeon from the beginning it's were you belonged Meredith and I'm sorry that I ever forced you out into a field that you didn't want to go into so you were compared to your mother."

Meredith turned around in his arms and looked at him putting her hand on the side of his face and felt him lean into her hand as she replied, "Derek stop blaming yourself for that it was better for our marriage that I went to a different specialty for a while. Our relationship is stronger now than ever so stop blaming yourself."

He nodded and pulled her even closer to him when he saw Andrew DeLuca walking past after getting out of the surgery that he was in with Alex. He didn't like the way that DeLuca was always looking at his wife when he knew that she was married but the difference between his relationship with Addison and Meredith was that he knew that Meredith would never cheat on him with anyone.

He didn't consider that dates that she had gone on cheating on him because she had no idea that he was still alive so he couldn't blame her for trying to move on even though he was thrilled that she hadn't. Andrew DeLuca than stated, "Good afternoon, Dr. Shepherd Dr, Grey."

"Dr. DeLuca."

Derek watched him walk away before saying, "I know that you have to go pick up Zola to go dress shopping for the father daughter dance but I have some big news to tell you first."

Meredith looked at Derek with her green eyes that had a questioning look to them but he knew that she would be excited for him when he told her the news. Derek pulled the paper that he had folded out of his pocket and showed it to her but before she could read it, he stated, "Dr. Wyatt cleared me to start doing surgery again said that she's proud of the progress that I made and not needing to be around you every second is improvement. And even though I want to be around you all that time is just because I love you."

Putting her arms around the back of Derek's neck Meredith held him close to her and replied, "She's not the only one who is proud of you Derek. I'm proud of everything that you have overcome to get to where you are. Getting away from the government and outing them was a smart move so that they can't do this to anyone else."

Derek put his head into Meredith's shoulder and inhaled the lavender scent that she had never changed and loved how at ease it made him feel. Sure, he wasn't as anxious as he had once been put it still felt good to have the reassurance that being with Meredith had always given him.

Bailey then walked out of the OR that she was in and saw Meredith and Derek were with each other again and couldn't help but rolling her eyes at them. Since the two of them had come back to work since finding out that Derek was alive, they were almost never apart and at first, she thought that it was cute that they still loved each other as much as they had when he was taken as a hostage but on the other hand it was getting annoying as they were in a hospital and should have been focusing on the patients instead of each other. But found that she couldn't break up the happy moment between them and as she started walking towards the waiting room to inform her patients family that he was going to be fine when she saw Andrew DeLuca was watching the two of them with an envious look on his face.

"DeLuca, I know that you have better things to do that stand around and stare at one of your attendings."

Meredith and Derek broke away from the moment that they were having and Meredith stated, "I better go get Zola she hasn't stopped talking about going to the dance with her Daddy and can't wait to find a dress that she'll be able to wear to be with you."

If it was possible Derek's smiled wider then he had been and replied, "I've got to see Bailey and then I've got Ellis and Bailey while you're with Zola. I love you, Meredith."

"I love you to Derek."

As Meredith walked to the attendings lounge she couldn't help but smile it had become a part of her and Derek's routine to tell each other that they loved each other so they could never forget the love that they had for each other.

Once she was changed into the jeans and shirt that she had worn to work Meredith fished her keys out of her purse and made her way to her car. Getting in Meredith thought she recognized the car that was parked in the parking lot as one that had been near her and Derek's house when he had first come back to her. But she also knew that it was a common car so she ignored it for now.

Meredith started the car and made her way to Zola's school and waited for Zola to come to the car. The only reason she wasn't picking up Bailey to was that he had started a little league for baseball with his best friend Ryan and Ryan's Mom was brining them both to it so Derek only had to pick Bailey up when it ended.

Zola was practically bouncing when she opened the door to her mother's car and got into her seat and said, "Hi Mom. Are we going dress shopping now?"

"Yeah, Zo we are going to get your dress today."

There was a giddiness to Zola's voice as she replied, "I can't wait to go to the father daughter dance with my Daddy. I've told all of my friends that Daddy is going to take me and they can't wait to meet him. I even told Sofia that Daddy would dance with her to."

"That was very nice of you Zo. Was she excited to hear that her Uncle Derek would be dancing with her at the dance as well?"

Zola nodded in the back seat and replied, "She said that she was going to tell Auntie Arizona as soon as she got home. I think that she was as excited as I was when she was told that her Uncle Derek was alive."

Meredith smiled it didn't surprise her that Sofia was excited about her Uncle Derek being alive as he was able to tell her about her father in a way that other people hadn't been able to as they had only known Mark when he was in Seattle. But Derek had known Mark his entire life and was able to tell stories about him growing up to Sofia and she loved to hear everything that she could about her father as a child.

Parking her car in front of the dress store that was named Seattle Glitz, it was supposed to be a one stop shop from dresses and offered everything from father daughter dance dresses to weddings and proms so Meredith hoped that she would be able to find something for Zola here. Turning off the car Meredith grabbed her purse from the passenger seat and looked in the backseat and could see the smile of her eldest daughter's face so she didn't even have to ask her daughter if she was ready. Zola had been looking forward to this since Meredith had told her about going dress shopping.

Taking Zola's hand, the two of them walked into the dress shop and Meredith felt a little overwhelmed at seeing all of the dresses that were lining the walls of Seattle Glitz. She hadn't even gone to her prom and the only reason that she had gotten a dress for the wedding that she had given to Alex and Izzie was because of Izzie.

Zola was the opposite and wanted to run and look all of the dresses that she would fit in. Being the opposite of how Zola was made Meredith feel like she was at a bit of a disadvantage but knew that she would have to get used to doing stuff like this because of upcoming dances that she knew Zola would want to go to.

Walking over to the dresses Meredith let go of Zola's hand and knelt down looking into her daughter's brown eyes and asked, "What's the rule."

"I can browse but cannot be out of your sight at any time."

Meredith smiled at her eldest daughter and let go of her hand and stated, "That's my girl Zo. What color dress did you want to get for the dance with Daddy?"

Zola thought about it for a while and then said, "Light blue. Sofia and I are going to try and get the same color dress so that we can show everyone that we are best friends."

Smiling Meredith nodded and tried to fight the emotion that was coming back up, since Derek had come back into her life Meredith had become so emotional and she was trying hard to not let it show all of the time. But most of the time she couldn't help it and Derek loved seeing this part of her away from the hospital that was willing to tell him that she loved him at all hours of the day. They didn't even refrain from showing each other that they loved each other at the hospital.

Looking through the dresses for one for Zola had Meredith taking a few off the shelf and looking them over deciding whether or not they would be something that her daughter could wear for her first father daughter dance.

A women's voice behind her asked, "Can I help you with anything?"

Meredith looked behind her and saw a woman with brown hair that was shaved on one side and saw that her name tag said Lilli, there was something familiar about her Meredith but it could have been that she had seen her around the hospital at one time or another. She then said, "Thanks for the offer but we're good."

Lilli didn't seem to get the hint and asked, "Shopping for a special occasion?"

Zola was standing next to her mother but was too excited not to tell everybody that she had met and replied, "My daddy is taking me to a father daughter dance."

"Well good for you sweetie. I'll leave the two of you to it then."

Turning back to the shelf Meredith found a dress that her daughter love it was aqua blue that had a mesh area on the shoulders and had a rhinestone belt and seemed to be made a chiffon. Meredith took it off the shelf and held it out in front of her and said, "Zo take a look at this one."

Zola was at Meredith's right side and took a glance at the dress and gave an excited squeal when she saw it in her mother's grasp and stated, "It's perfect Mom."

Meredith smiled and saw before you make any decisions let's go try it on so that we know that it fits so that you don't get your hopes up, okay?"

Nodding enthusiastically Zola grabbed her mother's hand and almost dragged her to the changing room. Helping her daughter out of her school clothes and into the dress that she was hoping to get Meredith couldn't help but smile throughout the process even though it was hard for her to think of Zola as anything other than her little girl.

With the dress on Zola asked Meredith, "What do you think Mommy?"

Meredith had tears in her eyes as she looked at how beautiful her daughter looked and replied, "You look beautiful Zozo. How does it feel? It's not too tight anywhere, is it?"

Zola shook her head and replied, "No it feels fine Mom. Can we get this dress for the dance with daddy?"

"Sure, thing Zo."

Launching herself at her mother Zola wrapped her arms as tight as she could and said, "Thank you Mommy."

"Your welcome Zola. Let's check out and get home so that we can go see your dad and tell him that we found your dress."

She nodded and quickly changed out of the dress and back into her clothes and made her way to the counter and checked out with the dress before making there way back to the car. Unaware that Lili St. John had been pretending to be a worker there and was hoping to get closer to them to get to Derek.

She watched as Meredith pulled away and then brought her phone up to her ear after hitting a number and before the person on the other end could say anything Lili stated, "I made contact with Shepherd's wife it seems that her eldest daughter and Derek are going to a father daughter dance together. That might be the best time to strike to get Shepherd's wife that way we can get him again."

Martin let out a low chuckle and then said, "Perfect. Get me more information on when that dance is going to be so that we can strike. And tell Parker to get me more information on what is going to go on the hospital that night or if she has any information."

"Yes sir."

At the dream house Derek was sitting in the kitchen helping Bailey finish his homework even though it was barely anything with him only being in kindergarten but he still wanted to give him the help. And also, the fact that he didn't want to miss anything else in his kids lives now that he was back.

Dinner was just finishing as the front door opened with the sensor going off. Zola ran over to him and was telling him, "Daddy I got a dress for the dance."

"I knew that you would find something. I can't wait to see you in it Zola."

Meredith walked up and put her arm around his waist and said, "If you still are set on wearing a suit to the dance with Zola, you're going to need to find an aqua tie."

He nodded and kissed the side of her head saying, "Thank you Meredith."

She nodded and said, "The house smells amazing by the way. What are you making for dinner?"

"You're favorite chicken parm."

She smiled at him as Bailey closed the book that was in front of him and put it in his Pokémon backpack and stated, "I'm done with my homework. Can I go play?"

"Go ahead Bailey but dinner is going to be ready is a little bit so no complaining."

He nodded and ran off to find his sisters Meredith looked at his eyes and asked, "How did the meeting with Bailey go?"

"It went good. She's thrilled that I got approved to be back in the operating room but understands that I have to keep going to the therapy sessions with Dr. Wyatt until she thinks that I am ready to face everything by myself."

Derek then kissed Meredith and stated, "Thanks to you getting me to go. I'm just glad that we are able to get back to our family Meredith. I love you."

"I love you to."