Feet firm on the ground, we stood hand in hand.

A few weeks had passed, and they fell into a comfortable routine. Well, as much as a routine that two doctors could have with a four-year-old girl. They didn't spend every single night together, but when they did, Meredith felt more part of a family than she ever had in her life. Word of their relationship had began spreading around the hospital, more so on the mornings they both came in with Zola, but neither was too bothered about hospital gossip.

That night, Derek was pulled into surgery that was sure to last all night and Meredith was home with Zola for one of their many movie nights, the ones they had the night before Meredith would have a day off. She settled in the corner of the couch with Zola in her lap, ready to start the movie before Zola interrupted her thoughts, looking up at her, "Mama, Derek coming?"

She smiled down at the young girl, shaking her head a little, "Not tonight, Zo, he's at the hospital."

This seemed to satisfy Zola, and they began to watch the movie together. Zola was concentrated on the movie playing, but Meredith just watched her daughter, her fingers smoothing over her hair. Around half-way into the movie, Zola started falling asleep against her. Once she had fully drifted off to sleep, she kept one arm around her as she reached to pick up the remote to turn off the tv.

As she stood holding Zola steady against her, she heard the front door opening. She walked into the hall, smiling at Maggie as she walked in, speaking in a whisper, "Hey, Mags. She just fell asleep."

"Can we talk, in the kitchen? When you've put her down," Maggie asked in an equally quiet voice.

Meredith started walking up the stairs and nodded, "I'll be right down." She took Zola up to her room and carefully lowered her on to the mattress, tucking her in and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead before turning out the light and making her way back downstairs to speak to Maggie.

She found her in the kitchen and sat at one of the stools on the breakfast bar, watching as Maggie mixed a mystery batter in front of her. Meredith raised an eyebrow at her, and Maggie explained with a shrug, "Cookies."

"Okay, so what did you want to talk about?" Meredith was pretty sure she already knew what the conversation would be about. She rested her elbows on the table and sat her chin on her hands.

Maggie continued mixing the batter in the bowl as she spoke, "I just wanted to check-in, see how you're doing. I feel like I've barely seen you the past few weeks."

"I'm good, things are going well," she said with a smile and she stood off the stool, wandering to the cereal cupboard and grabbing a box of Zola's cocoa krispies and then moved back to where she was sat, snacking on the cereal as Maggie spoke.

"You have this happiness about you. I haven't seen it before, I mean, not that you walk around miserable or anything," Maggie felt like she was starting to ramble a little, "my point is, I'm happy to see you happy."

Meredith was a little confused for a moment, "I am happy, I mean, I'm kind of still waiting for the other show to drop. That's how my life has played out so far, things go well and then other shoe drops," she shrugged before continuing, "he makes me happy, Mags. I know he's let me down before, but I can't completely fault him," she ate another handful of cereal, "she was fighting the divorce, it could have affected my position with Zola's adoption."

At this, Maggie put the bowl down, "I don't understand."

She shrugged a little, "I guess it doesn't look good on me being with him when he's still technically married."

"And now?" She questioned.

"He's almost divorced?" When she thought about it, she wasn't actually sure of where they stood, legally.

"That's still not divorced," Maggie pointed out as she started shaping the cookie dough into balls on the baking tray.

Meredith packed the cereal back away and put it in the cupboard, "I want him in her life. It's too early though, right? I'm still adopting her as a sole parent at the moment, unless something changes."

"I think it would be the safest thing to do, make sure everything goes through easier. He can always adopt her after you've got permanent custody guaranteed. Have they updated you anymore?" Maggie asked as she put the baking tray into the pre-heated oven.

"Janet called the other day, still waiting on a hearing date but she doesn't think it should take much longer. They have all the paperwork, all the relevant information," she sighed as she leaned against the counter.

"You've never been very good with the whole patience thing, have you?" Maggie said with a laugh as she watched her sister, "You don't need to worry, they'd be stupid not to let the adoption go through."

She smiled gratefully at her sister, "Thanks, Maggie, I'm going to head up to bed."

Meredith made her way up to the bedroom after saying goodnight to Maggie, quickly checking in on Zola on her way past, smiling at the image of her fast asleep in the bed. As she went into her bedroom, her phone started buzzing in her pocket. She pulled it out to find a message from Derek.

Just got out of surgery, Zola asleep?

She quickly typed out a response, to let him know Zola had gone to sleep and she was going to sleep soon after, and she'd see him tomorrow. Her conversation with Maggie replayed in her mind, about the divorce. She put the phone on charge not waiting for a reply from him and took off her clothes before climbing into bed and shortly falling asleep, exhausted from the day.

Derek had just sent a message to Meredith to let her know that his surgery was over as he was on his way to his office. He quickly checked his watch, it was getting late, but he hadn't arranged to stay with Meredith that night, so she wasn't expecting him. As he gathered his things from his office, pulling his coat on, he felt his phone buzz with Meredith's response. He couldn't quite pinpoint what it was, but something seemed off. She'd said she was going to sleep though, so he figured it'd be best if he went to back to his own apartment for the night. He sent her a message to wish her a good night, letting her know he would be at his apartment if she needed him.

He picked up his mail when he arrived at the apartment building, looking through it as he rode the elevator up to his apartment that he hadn't actually been to over the past two days. As he stepped off the elevator, he opened a large manilla envelope, pulling out the paperwork that had been sent to him from New York. His divorce was final. It showed the date of finalisation. It was finally over.

As he entered his apartment, he was giddy almost, wanting to call Meredith, to let her know the update, but glancing at the clock on the wall that showed it was now nearing midnight, he decided against this. He would go over in the morning. Tomorrow was a rare day, where they both had the day scheduled off at the same time. He put the documents and the rest of his mail down on the desk by his living room window before going to get ready for bed.

He woke to the sound of his phone ringing and he reached over, grabbing it from the side table where he had left it charging the night before. Meredith's picture lit up the screen and he answered with a smile, but his voice still thick with sleep, "Good morning."

"Hey, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" she asked, sounding slightly concerned at the thought of waking him.

"It's okay, I was getting up soon anyway," he reassured her, "What's up?"

Before Meredith could answer, he heard Zola's voice in the background, "Derek make pancakes!"

He chuckled softly as Meredith got the chance to speak, "She wouldn't drop it until I tried to call you, at least, and ask if you could make pancakes?" He could swear he heard her roll her eyes at her daughter's antics, "We can come over there."

"No, I mean yes, I can make pancakes, but I'll come to you guys, stay in bed a little longer," he said as he climbed out of bed himself, moving over to his dresser to grab sweatpants and a clean top, "Do you have ingredients?"

Meredith thought a moment before answer, Maggie had been baking last night but she couldn't be too sure what was left in the kitchen, "I honestly don't know," she admitted with a laugh.

He joined in with her laughter, "I'll stop by the store on my way, do you need anything else while I'm there?"

"Maybe just some fresh juice," she suggested, "I'll let you go, Zola's getting a bit impatient," he could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke about Zola, "See you soon."

"See you soon," he responded, pausing a moment before hanging up the call, "Meredith?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you," he said with a widening smile.

He heard a soft sigh down the phone before she responded, almost as though she was relieved to hear him say it, "I love you too."

Meredith ended the call and put the phone back on the side table before picking Zola up in her arms, "Looks like someone is getting pancakes this morning."

Zola giggled as she snuggled into Meredith's chest as she lay with her in the bed once more, "Thanks, Mama."

She laughed softly and pressed a soft kiss to the top of Zola's head, "Anytime, Zo."

Zola looked up at her mother from where she was snuggled in her chest, "Derek like a daddy?"

Meredith looked down at Zola, her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she thought a moment on how to answer the question, "What do you mean, baby?"

As Zola explained, Meredith pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "Mer is mama," she placed a hand on Meredith's chest before continuing, "Derek is daddy?" She said the last part like a question.

Meredith kept her eyes on Zola, giving her adopted daughter her full attention, "Do you want Derek to be your daddy?"

Zola thought for a moment before answering, and when she spoke, she had a grin on her face, "Makes pancakes, and pasta, and reads stories, and good cuddles, love Derek, Mommy."

Meredith returned Zola's grin, "Well maybe you should ask him later, when he gets here?" Zola frowned, seemingly upset and Meredith sat up pulling Zola into her lap, keeping her arms around her, "What's wrong, Zo?"

Zola's face buried into her chest and she heard her mumble, "Maybe Derek don't want to be daddy."

She began rocking Zola slowly, in attempt to soothe her as she spoke in a quiet voice, "I think he does, baby," she tried to sound confident in her answer, but she still had a nagging voice of doubt in the back of her head, her hand moved up and down Zola's back gently, "How about I'll ask him, and then we'll know, okay?"

Zola looked up at her and simply nodded before burying herself back against Meredith. They sat like that for five more minutes and she could feel the young girl starting to fall back asleep after having worked herself up a little bit. She heard a knock on the door and was about to get up to answer it when she heard Maggie opening it. She'd completely forgotten her sister was home.

She heard the muffled noise of their conversation as they walked into the kitchen and shortly after, steps coming up the staircase before Derek appeared in her doorway, taking in the scene in front of him, noticing Zola had fallen back to sleep.

He spoke in a quiet voice as he went to sit on the side of the bed, facing Meredith, "Hey."

"Hey, she just fell back asleep, but I can wake her," she spoke in a quiet voice, looking towards Derek, "I need to get a shower anyway."

He shook his head, "No, here I'll take her," he moved to sit on the bed against the pillows, beside her, having already taken his shoes off downstairs. Meredith carefully passed a sleeping Zola to him, and he took her, holding her against his chest as she stayed asleep.

As she got up, Meredith pressed a soft kiss to Derek's lips, which he returned, "Thanks, I won't take too long."

"Take all the time you need," she heard him say as she walked into the en-suite bathroom, as she stripped her clothes and consequentially got in the shower, her mind was filled with thoughts on how she'd bring up the topic with him that she'd just been discussing with Zola. She still had yet to ask about the divorce.

She left the small room, a towel wrapped under her arms around her body, and grinned at the sight she saw. In the time she'd been in the shower, Derek himself had fallen back to sleep with Zola against him. She resolved to leave them like that as she dried herself off, changing into loungewear before going through to Zola's room and grabbing her a change of clothes.

She put the clothes down on her bed, moving back over to where Derek was with Zola. She leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead as she picked Zola up again, which caused Derek to stir a moment before he woke again, "Sorry, I must've drifted off."

"It's okay, if you hadn't come in when you did I'd have fallen asleep too," she gave him a warm smile as he fully woke himself up and then her attention turned to Zola who she held on her hip. Her hand patted against her back gently as she spoke in a soft voice, "Come on, Zo, time to wake up."

The small girl roused in her hold, a yawn escaping her lips as she simply clung to Meredith a little tighter. After another moment, her eyes started to open and she murmured softly, "Mama?"

"Hey, sleepyhead," she greeted her with a soft kiss to the top of her head.

Zola hadn't yet realised Derek was in the room with them and buried her head against Meredith's shoulder with a mumble, "Mama, toilet."

At this, Meredith took Zola into the bathroom, leaving Derek sat on the bed alone. A moment later, he heard Zola's footsteps as she moved across the hall and back into the room, seeing him sat there. She lifted her arms to him to be lifted up and he obliged, "Hey, Zo, ready for pancakes?"

Zola giggled and nodded, wrapping her arms around Derek's neck in a hug as Meredith came back into the room, "Missed you, Derek."

"I missed you too, Zo," he said with a grin, holding her close, "Are you going to get dressed now while I go start the pancakes?"

Zola nodded and pulled back from him, climbing off his lap and over to wear Meredith was waiting with her clothes. As she started to help her change, Derek got up off the bed, giving Meredith a smile before heading back down to the kitchen to start prepping the pancake mix from the ingredients he'd brought over. Maggie appeared to have left the house since she'd let him in.

As he was ready to start pouring the mixture into the pan, Meredith came down with Zola held on her hip and he saw Zola say something to her a moment out of earshot before Meredith nodded and set Zola on her feet. He watched as Zola went into the living room and he heard the tv turn on. Meredith went into the kitchen and stood across from Derek.

"So," she started, leaning forward against the counter.

Before she could say anything, Derek spoke, "I got an interesting letter in the mail."

She looked to him and raised an eyebrow, curious, "Yeah?"

He nodded as he poured batter into the frying pan and then looked up at her, "The divorce is officially finalised, legally."

Definitely not what she was expecting him to say, "Oh, is this, are you okay?" She asked him, treading carefully.

He nodded as he flipped the pancake, "More than. I'm finally closing that chapter of my life and moving on," he looked up at her, trying to read her reaction.

"Good, that's good then," she responded, moving around the kitchen island to stand beside him. He moved one arm around her waist as his other hand held the handle of the frying pan.

He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head, and she looked up at him, "Moving on with you, if you didn't catch on to that."

She laughed softly and pressed a kiss to his cheek before pulling away and moving over the fridge, "I got it, I'm just processing."

"I feel like there was something you were going to talk to me about?" he asked as he moved on to the next pancake, watching as she grabbed the bottle of fresh juice, grabbing two glasses for them and Zola's plastic sippy cup.

"More of a conversation I wanted to have with you, on Zola's behalf," she said as she poured the drinks.

"Sounds like an important conversation," he observed, still keeping a watch on her as he continued to cook the pancakes.

She laughed softly as she fastened the lid of Zola's cup, "One second," she went through to the other room to pass Zola her drink before returning, sitting on the stool across from where he stood, "I was going to ask, actually, to see if you had heard anything about the divorce first, but I guess you answered my question before I could ask," she took a sip of her drink before continuing as he listened to what she had to say, "Zola wanted to know if you wanted to be her dad."

The world seemed to tell me, that I have a plan.
Together we sang, I'm ready now.

Ready Now – Dodie.