"Zola, it's time to go!" Meredith called to her daughter from her bedroom, having left Zola in her own room to play while she got herself ready for the final adoption hearing.
"Where's daddy?" Zola asked, coming into Meredith's bedroom, dragging along a stuffed lion teddy that Derek had found for her, and she's never let go of since.
"I'm right here, Princess," Derek responded as he walked out of the en-suite bathroom, scooping Zola up into his arms as she giggled, enjoying the attention.
Meredith watched a moment with a wide grin as Derek played with her, imitating the noise of a lion as he held up the teddy to her and she grabbed at it, still giggling. She moved up beside them, pressing a kiss to the side of Zola's head, "Come on you two, we need to get going."
"We go to dinner, Mommy?" Zola asked, knowing the only other time they all got dressed up was to go out for dinner on their family nights out.
"Later, baby," Meredith spoke as they headed down the stairs, "First we have to go somewhere very important, okay? Remember what we talked about?"
They had reached the car at this point, and Derek was strapping her into the car seat as she thought hard and then a look of realisation hit Zola, "I 'member!"
Derek chuckled softly and pressed a kiss to Zola's head before closing her door and climbing in the car with Meredith, ready to drive to the courthouse. He turned in his seat to look back at her, "What do you remember, Zola?"
"MerMer is Mommy and Derek is daddy," she said with a sure nod and a grin on her face, "Zola Grey-Shepherd."
"That's right, ZoZo," Meredith looked back at her with a grin, "You want music?"
Zola nodded and Meredith turned on the playlist she had made of Zola's favourite songs for the car. Derek didn't miss the slight shake of nervousness in her hand and reached to place his hand in hers as he drove the car, giving her hand a gentle squeeze, "It's going to be okay, there's nothing to worry about."
"I know, I just, they could say no, Derek," she starred to tear up a little as she looked over at him.
"They won't do that, okay?" He released her hand so that he could change gears before placing it on her thigh gently, an act of comfort and reassurance.
Meredith sighed softly and set her hand on top of Derek's as she looked out of the window for the rest of the journey. Eventually they arrived at their destination, and Meredith quickly exited the car to lift Zola out of her seat in the back of the car and held her on her hip, needing to feel Zola close. She couldn't help but think the worst could happen.
Derek walked in beside her, his hand resting at the small of her back. They made their way to the assigned courtroom, meeting up with their lawyer, and sat on the bench outside the room, waiting to be called in.
"Do I look okay?" Meredith looked to Derek as she spoke quietly and his arm moved around her shoulders, giving her a gentle squeeze.
"You look perfect, Meredith," he murmured softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead before looking to Zola, who was looking around with wide eyes, "Doesn't Mommy look pretty, Zola?"
Zola turned to look at Derek and then at Meredith, before visibly relaxing and she giggled, nodding as she pressed her hand against Meredith's cheek, "Pretty, Mommy."
"Thank you, baby girl," she grinned at her daughter, and Derek couldn't comprehend how anyone could question the love she held for Zola.
Their case was called, and Meredith placed Zola in her feet as they stood, taking Zola's hand in hers, but Zola whimpered, reaching her hand up to Meredith, "Carry, Mommy."
"Okay, Zo," she picked Zola back up, holding her on her hip again as they walked inside the room, Zola's face buried against her neck out of shyness and Meredith rubbed her back to try and ease her distress. She murmured softly to Zola as they took their seats, "Come on, baby. It's okay. I'm here, Daddy's here."
Zola wriggled in Meredith's lap slightly as she got comfortable before peaking her head out and taking a look around the room, keeping a grip on Meredith's blazer. Her attention was drawn by the family court judge entering the room, and Meredith held her as they stood. The judge was introduced and they were all asked to be seated, and Zola got comfortable in Meredith's lap again. It was obvious that Zola wasn't about to move away from her mother anytime soon.
Derek's gaze switched between the judge and Meredith as she sat with Zola, noticing how both were holding on to each other for support. Meredith, Derek, and Janet, the social worker, were all sworn in before the judge began.
They started with Janet's report of the suitability of the placement, both objective facts as well more subjective opinions, all positive. They had countless recommendations from their co-workers.
The judge then looked toward where Derek, Meredith and Zola sat before speaking, "Is it your intention to provide Zola with a loving home?"
Derek's hand slid into Meredith's with a gentle squeeze as they both nodded and replied together, "Yes."
With a grin on her face, the judge declared the finalisation of the adoption and Meredith released a breath she didn't even realise she was holding, all tension leaving her body in that instant. Zola was hers to love, protect and keep safe. She looked down at Zola who was looking back up at her confused, "Mommy why you sad?"
Meredith hadn't even realised she was crying, and she shook her head, using her free hand that wasn't holding Zola to wipe at her eyes, "Oh no, Zola. I'm not sad, I'm really, really happy."
Zola's arms reached up to hug around Meredith's neck as she stood, hugging Zola close to her as Derek's arms came around them, "The judge wants to take a picture and meet Zola."
Meredith nodded as Zola reached out for Derek, sensing the happy atmosphere between them as she grinned wide, "Daddy carry now!"
Derek chuckled and lifted Zola out of Meredith's hold, who felt more tears falling down her cheeks at the sight of them and lifted her hands to wipe them away as they walked to take a picture with the judge. She watched Zola as she interacted with the judge, being shy at first but quickly realising she had nothing to be shy about as she started bragging about her new Mommy and Daddy.
"Mommy is my best friend, but daddy makes the best pancakes, Mommy don't cook," Zola giggled with her hands over her mouth and they all laughed along with her.
They took the picture together and collected all the documents with their lawyer. Zola wriggled to get to her feet by the time they were leaving the courtroom and Derek set her down, keeping a hold of her hand and sliding his free arm around Meredith's waist, "Ready to go?"
Meredith held on to their file of legal documents and nodded, leaning into him slightly as they walked, "Let's go."
Zola tugged on his arm gently and he laughed as she spoke, "Daddy let's go!"
Meredith couldn't keep the grin off her face as they made their way to dinner. She couldn't remember a time she had smiled for so much time at once, and she couldn't even articulate how she was feeling to Derek, but she was sure he knew how she felt, because she knew he was definitely feeling the same. In all the excitement, Zola had fallen asleep in the back of the car. With the car parked up in the parking lot, Derek turned to Meredith a cupped her cheek with his hand, "I love seeing you so happy."
"I am, I'm really happy," she said, still grinning as she reached her hand over to rest on his thigh, leaning forward slightly to press her lips against his. His hand slipped into her hair as their lips moved together slowly for a moment before they pulled apart, their foreheads touching as she murmured softly, "I never thought I could be this happy, I never thought I could have all of this."
"You deserve the world, Meredith, and I'm going to keep giving it to you every chance I get," he murmured back, pressing another kiss to her lips, "Let's go wake our little girl up and go celebrate our family."