She sat in the corner of the sofa; the spot she'd practically taken residence in the whole week she'd been home from the hospital. Derek had left to collect Zola from school at Meredith's insistence that their daughter does not feel abandoned by them. One of them would always strive to pick her up from school and it was rare that either of them found they needed to ask the favour of anyone else.
She carefully adjusted her arms as to not wake the sleeping bundle snuggled against her chest, unable to keep her gaze off him as she watched him dream. She didn't think she'd be here this time two years ago, but here she was. Exhausted, in desperate need of a shower, but feeling like the luckiest person in the world. Her fingertip lightly stroked over his chubby cheek only for his tiny fist to reach out, and she let him take hold of her finger with his tight grip.
Down the hall, she heard the door open and the sound of her daughter's chatty voice carry through into the living room. She looked over to the doorway expectantly, a smile on her face as her daughter appeared in the doorway with her coat and backpack still on grinning back at her.
"Mommy! Baby!" She whisper-shouted, something she had perfected in the short time her baby brother had been brought home from the hospital.
"Coat and bag, Zo, then come and cuddle, okay?" Meredith told her. Zola nodded with excitement before heading back out of the room.
Derek came in as Zola raced out and grinned softly at his wife, coming over to press a quick kiss on her lips before leaning to press a gentle kiss to his son's forehead, speaking softly, "Is he sleeping?"
"Yeah, about fifteen minutes now," she confirmed, smiling up at Derek.
"Do you want me to take him so you can shower?" He offered, still speaking in a quiet voice as he moved to sit beside her on the couch, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.
"I want to see Zola first," she said with a small shake of her head, looking up as Zola came back into the room, coming round to the couch.
"Daddy go, my turn to cuddle," she insisted, patting his leg.
Derek chuckled and leaned forward, lifting Zola into his lap, "Okay, let me get one first though before I go make dinner."
Zola snuggled into her father's chest as he held her close a moment before wriggling a little to be set free, reaching to Meredith who carefully adjusted the baby to one arm, supported by a cushion, lifting her now free arm to allow Zola to cuddle into her side as Derek stood up again, heading over to the kitchen area.
"How was school, baby girl?" Meredith asked, giving Zola a gentle squeeze as she snuggled against her side.
"Good. I missed you, Mommy," she said as she looked up at Meredith, a slight pout on her lips.
"I missed you too, ZoZo," she gently rubbed her hand up and down Zola's arm in an act of reassurance, happy to have both of her babies snuggled with her. Zola was happy with this response and tried to get a better look of her baby brother, being held steady by Meredith.
"He's so cute, Mommy," she gushed, a grin on her face, "I can take him to school?"
"Why do you want to take him to school, Zo?" She said with a soft laugh at her enthusiasm, running her fingers through Zola's hair that had been so neat this morning.
"I told everyone I had a baby, and everyone wants to see him!" she explained, the same enthusiasm still in her voice.
"We'll compromise, next week I'll bring the baby to pick you up from school, okay?" Meredith offered, watching Zola take in and process the offer a moment.
"Com-pro-mise?" Zola said the word slowly and Meredith nodded, confirming she had pronounced it properly, "Okay, Mommy. You bring baby and I can show everyone!"
Meredith laughed softly and leaned to give Zola a quick kiss on the side of her head, only for Zola to return a kiss to Meredith's cheek.
Derek came back in the room now just as the baby started to fuss in Meredith's hold and she shifted to sit up a little, having to move her arm from around Zola to hold him carefully upright against her shoulder to rub his back gently as a way of comforting him.
"I'll take him," Derek offered, holding his hands out, not missing the flash of hesitation in Meredith's eyes that he tried to not take personally before she let him take their son in his arms, and he held him the way Meredith had been against his chest, comforting him.
"Mommy tired?" Zola asked after watching the interaction. Meredith looked to her with a gentle smile, the realisation of how smart her daughter was hitting her, and she teared up a little, which she would blame on the hormones. Seeing the tears, Zola panicked a little and climbed into Meredith's lap, "Mommy sad?!"
"I'm not sad, baby," she reassured her, wrapping her arms around her, and hugging her close, getting a giggle from Zola who was loving the attention from her mother, "I'm really, really happy."
"Me too, Mommy," she giggled, burying herself into Meredith's chest.
"Let's go find some dinner, Zo," Meredith suggested, her hand running lazily up and down Zola's back.
Zola shook her head and released a small yawn, mumbling, "Nap first, Mommy."
"Okay, baby," she said with a smile, watching her daughter fall asleep quickly against her. She was exhausted herself and knew the recent changes were exhausting for Zola to keep up with and adapt to. Eventually, Meredith's eyelids drooped, and she fell to sleep herself, cuddled up on the couch with Zola.
Derek watched as she started to wake, gently nudging her shoulder, holding the baby against his shoulder as he whimpered. She blinked a few times as she sat up, murmuring, "Crap, sorry."
"It's okay, I didn't want to wake you but he's hungry," Derek sat beside her as he passed the baby over and she took him in her arms.
"Hey, baby," she murmured softly, the knuckle of her finger running gently over his cheek, "Where's Zola?"
"She's finishing her dinner, I have a plate warmed in the oven for you," he pressed a kiss to her cheek before standing again, "I'll get it ready for you."
"Thank you, Derek. I don't know what I'd do without you," she grinned up at him.
"And you'll never have to find out," he said before heading back through to the kitchen, finding Zola had finished her food and was climbing off her chair.
"All done, Zo?" He asked as he moved her plate off the table, "Where are you going now?"
"Back to cuddle Mommy," she told him, matter of factly.
"Mommy's feeding your brother, baby girl," he set the plate down in the sink and walked over to her, lifting her up into a hug, "You can cuddle Daddy though, Daddy loves Zola's cuddles."
She giggled, burying her face against his chest as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, "Daddy, go park tomorrow? I miss the park."
"That sounds like a great idea, Zola," he confirmed, "it's time for your bath soon, and then why don't we watch a movie before bed?"
"Nemo?" Zola asked with a grin on her face as Derek carried her over to the couch where Meredith was feeding the baby, "I think Bailey like nemo."
Derek laughed softly and Meredith grinned at them in amusement as she listened to their conversation, "We can watch Nemo, Princess."
"Thank you, daddy," Zola said, patting his cheek as he sat them both on the couch. "Mommy?" she turned to look at Meredith.
"Yes, baby?" Meredith asked, her brow furrowing slightly at the sudden look of seriousness on Zola's face.
"Thank you for keeping me, and giving me Daddy, and baby Bailey. I like being big sister," she said with a nod.
"You're welcome, Zola," she said with a wide grin, her eyes tearing up a little at Zola's words. She was also glad she'd finally taken that step almost two years ago to adopt Zola, to forgive Derek, and give the little girl a family, "And you're a very good big sister."
A/N: Thank you all for reading the very first Grey's Anatomy story I've written and thank you for sticking with me! I have only just realised today that I can respond directly to reviews for those who have accounts on here, so I'm going to do just that now, haha. Thank you all for your lovely reviews those who have reviewed. Please look at my other, better planned out, stories on here, Back To Seattle, the sequel for which will be started soon hopefully, and We've Got To Stop Meeting Like This, which will be updated sometime between today and tomorrow – it's written up and just needs a few finishing touches. Again, thank you for all your lovely comments, it definitely helped me keep this going until the very end! I may be coming back through here at some point to fix a lot of errors I have noticed upon reading back.