Meredith wakes up alone in her huge bed. She looks over the side of the bed and sees that Ellis is still sleeping. She slowly sits up, pushing back the fluffy comforter, and climbs out of bed.
'On the dock fishing with Z and B – Derek' reads the note Meredith finds taped to the coffee pot. Her husband knows her so well; the first thing she does in the morning, even on their days off, is get coffee. Meredith ears Ellis crying through the baby monitor so she puts her bagel down and heads back into her bedroom. "Good morning baby girl" she says sweetly as she picks Ellis up. After feeding her and changing her, Meredith puts Ellis in the baby bjorn and starts walking towards the dock. It's a warm, spring day in Seattle so Meredith is wearing her classic jean jacket. "Look at all the pretty flowers. And that birdie. Do you see that birdie Ellie?" Meredith talks sweetly to Ellis during their walk, while the baby only answers back in 'ooo' and 'agggaaa' noises. "That's right we're going to see daddy, and Bailey, and Zola. They're out on the dock fishing which is daddy's favorite thing to do. Mom doesn't like fishing and neither do your aunts or uncle Alex. Well one-time aunt Christina went fishing with your daddy and caught a biiigggg fish." Meredith babbles on and on until they reach the dock. The back of their house overlooks the water, but there's a path that Derek had built that goes through the woods to a less-steep part of the cliff so the walk up and down the stairs isn't too hard for the kids. From the top of the stairs Meredith can see Zola fishing with her pink pole on one side of the dock and Derek helping Bailey on the other side. "Good morning" Meredith says when she reaches the bottom. "Mommy come look at my fishy!" Meredith walks over to Zola's bucket and looks down to see a tiny fish swimming around in it. "How Zozo that's a really big fish" she says with a smile. "What have we got over hear" she asks heading over to Derek and Bailey. "I can't get a fish" Bailey says with a frown. "Well your dad's the best at catching fish so I'm sure you'll get one in no time" she says giving him a kiss on the head. Derek helps Bailey cast his line before turning to face Meredith. "You left me" she says giving him a quick kiss. "I thought I'd let you sleep in. I take it you found my note?" "I did. Did the kids eat?" "Yeah we had cereal and strawberries before coming down here. Did she eat" he asks looking at Ellis. "Yeah. And I got her to drink the whole bottle" she says proudly. "Ha ha! Did you hear that Ellie drank her whole bottle!" "Yay" cheer Bailey and Zola. Meredith laughs before she takes Ellis out of the baby bjorn and hands her over to Derek. "You are getting so big! I am so proud of you" he says to Ellis. She laughs when he tickles her which only makes him smile harder. They spend the rest of their morning on the dock just having fun as a family.
The next morning Meredith and Derek are scrambling around their kitchen trying to get the kids ready. Bailey and Ellis are eating breakfast with Derek while Meredith is trying to help Zola pick a toy for show and tell.
"You can only bring one sweetie!" "But I can't decide mommy!" Meredith huffs in annoyance and looks around at all of Zola's toys. "You play with Mr. Unicorn every day right? Why don't you bring him?" "Okay" Zola says taking the toy from Meredith and putting it in her back pack. "We need to start looking at schools for her for next year" Meredith says coming up to Derek. "Arizona mentioned the same thing about Sofia. I told her we'll let her know which ones we're considering. I think it would be nice for them to go to school together" he says. "Okay. I'll talk to Callie about it. I've got to go I'm gonna be late for this new carpool thing" she says. "Have fun" he says while giving Bailey some juice. "Oh I will" she replies sarcastically. She gives everyone a quick kiss before heading out the door. As she's putting her bag over her shoulder she turns to look at her family and watches them longingly. The desire to stay with her babies grows stronger every time she leaves for work. "Go" Derek says when he notices Meredith watching. "Say bye to mommy!" "Bye mommy!" And with that Meredith is out the door. She picks up Maggie and Amelia, before driving to Alex's place. "This can't be right. They live here?" Maggie asks looking at the disgusting warehouse that Alex and Jo live in. "I mean, when you said carpool, I thought you meant just us because you two live in the same building. Where is Alex" Meredith says. "Am I actually planning a wedding that's going to happen in a few months? How did that even happen" Amelia asks. "I don't know. Stop asking" Meredith replies. "Carpooling is supposed to save time" she adds looking down at her phone. "This guy with the beard – I have seen him perform a sex act to buy drugs, take the drugs, and fall asleep. He's had a full day already" Maggie says looking out the window. Meredith chuckles; "and yet we're still here." "At least I think he's asleep" adds a concerned Maggie. "Does colors and napkin matching really matter? Oh god I feel like a 15-year-old picking out her homecoming dress." "You sound 15" Meredith says to Amelia. "Boo!" Alex pops up in Maggie's window and laughs at their shocked faces. "Alex! I've been sitting out here for 20 minutes" Meredith says in annoyance. "Well, yet at Jo for not changing her oil in over a decade" he says as he climbs into the back seat with Amelia. "Well, between you and this anatomy class, my morning is shot. I need to stop teaching this anatomy class" Meredith adds. "Your neighbors seem nice" Maggie says to Alex. "Yeah, the block's a pit, but it's cheap" he says. "Everybody buckled" Meredith asks. "Sorry, habit" she says when she realizes everyone in her car is an adult. "Webber needs one of us to walk her into her surprise breakfast thing this morning" Meredith says as she reads a text from Richard. "No thanks" says Maggie and Amelia. "Not I" adds Alex. "I hate all of you!"
Meredith stands in front of the OR board looking at all the surgeries she has scheduled. She sighs when she realizes that there's no way she can get all of this done. "Hey" Derek says as he walks out of the OR. "Bailey gave me all of her patients and there is no way I can get all of this done" she says. "You'll figure it out. You always do" he says giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll be in my lab if you need some more inspiration" he adds with a smile as he walks away. "Where have you been" she yells at Edwards when she notices the resident walking towards her. "I was downloading all the charts you asked for, which, respectfully, is a lot of charts" Edwards says. "Are we really doing all of these surgeries today" she adds when she looks at the board. "Well, Bailey pushed all her patients onto me, so that means you too" Meredith says.
Callie, Avery, Derek, Maggie, and Ben are in the radiology room looking at the scans for Bailey's pituitary tumor patient. Ben looks at the scans again; "can you do a minimally invasive…" "No, no, her vertebral bodies are too large. We'll have to use an anterior approach through the chest" Callie says interrupting him. "I'll do a right thoracotomy" Maggie adds. "I'm going to do a transcranial approach" Derek says to Avery. "Yeah, if Bailey wants a shorter recovery, then an endonasal approach will help." "The tumor's too big. It won't work." "The head is abnormally big, you're gonna have space." "I'm doing a craniotomy Avery, I need visibility if I don't want to rupture the ventricles." "I'm gonna get you where you need to be with less bleeding, all right? Just listen for a minute" Jackson says. "Apparently, we don't have a minute" Derek says angrily. "Avery, can you do a consult" Meredith asks as she walks into the room. "No" everyone in the room answers, at the same time. "It's for one of Bailey's patients" Meredith adds. "Of course it is" he says in an annoyed tone. "She put all our services on hold to fix her giant problem" Derek says while looking at the computer. "She had me push two procedures for this" Callie adds. "She's doing it to you guys too. I mean, she postponed five of my consults so I could handle her patients. She didn't ask. She just pushed them. It's ridiculous. No offense" Meredith says. "Can she do that" Maggie asks. "Can who do what" Owen asks as he walks into the room. "Oh, can you be chief again, I loved you as chief" Callie says to Owen. "You did stay out of people's hair" adds Jackson. "Very hands off – and great ties" says Maggie. "You know what they used to call her, her interns" says Callie. "What" asks Maggie turning to Callie. "The Nazi" says Callie and Meredith and Derek together.
"Oh Grey – just the person I needed to see" Bailey says walking up to Meredith. "A hot appy came in tonight. Now, it hasn't ruptured, but you need to do" "Am I being punished for yelling at you" Meredith asks interrupting Bailey. "On the contrary" Bailey says with a surprised face. "It's fine. I just need to know." "Oh, you don't think you deserved my piling my service on you" Bailey says seriously. "No." "I believe you do." "What?" "I'm gonna let you in on a secret. See, when Webber had this job, it was easier for him. And Hunt had it easier than I do. You know why?" "I don't." "Because they had me. I need a me, and I believe that you can be a me for me. I need you to be my me." Meredith just stares at Bailey in confusion. "I'd like to appoint you chief of general surgery" Bailey says. "Me?" Meredith asks with total shock on her face. "Because you deserve it. Because you can take it. Because I leaned on you, and you held me up. You are the calm in the center of the chaos. You have been since I met you. And I need you." "Hmm" Meredith says in understanding, before standing a little taller and looking incredibly proud. "You want it or not" Bailey yells at Meredith. "Yes" she says with a smile. "Go, see this appy! And don't complain to me again" Bailey says with a chuckle as she walks away.
Meredith walks into her house to see Derek sitting on the couch with a glass of scotch. "Sorry I'm late Bailey gave me an appy to do after what was supposed to be my last surgery" she says. "Don't worry. I got the kids down" he says. "How's the Nazi doing? When I left she was still ruling with an iron fist" he says jokingly. "The Nazi made me chief" Meredith says with a smile. "She what" Derek says. "You're looking at the new chief of general surgery" she says proudly with a huge smile on her face. "Meredith that's amazing!" He wraps her in a tight hug and kisses her deeply and passionately. "Now you get to say you're married to a chief. I mean, how cool is that?" "Now it's my turn to seduce you by calling you chief" he says looking at her with his McDreamy eyes. She laughs and he picks her up and carries her into their bedroom. "Ooh Chief Grey" he says as he takes off her shirt which only makes her laugh even more. She kisses him passionately and they fall into bed together.
