Derek's head laceration was thankfully found early enough that the neurosurgeon could go in and repair the damage. When Derek woke up at Dillard Medical Center, before Meredith had arrived, he was reportedly drowsy, confused, and had vomited multiple times. All of these symptoms kept him under close monitoring and held him at the hospital for longer than she had hoped. But the two weeks at the hospital had come to an end and Meredith was finally able to take Derek home. Her previous worries were put to bed when she saw how well Derek had recovered in such a short amount of time. He still had aches from his surgeries and from, well, the fact that he got hit by a trunk but medically, he was good to go home. He couldn't go back to cutting right away but that only meant he had more time with the kids and more time to do research. It worked out in Derek's favor and he couldn't have been happier.

Meredith was happy to have her husband home so they could pick up where they left off before he left for DC. Things were rocky before his accident; Derek's sudden departure from DC and Renee was shady and upsetting but she tried to push it to the back of her mind and remind herself that Derek was here now and he was alive.

Derek would continue to work on his DC project from GSMH so that he would be able to progress his marriage and his family. He wanted more. More time, more bedtime stories with his two beautiful children, an extra few minutes laying in bed with Meredith before the alarm clock went off, more simple surgeries that reminded him of why he wanted to become a surgeon in the first place, just more. The morning of his accident, Derek had asked Meredith if she wanted to extend their family and try for another baby. She was shocked and maybe a little reluctant but she didn't say no and it made his heart beat a little faster each minute since. He wasn't quite sure how Meredith felt now after his accident and he didn't know how to bring it up to her that he still wanted to try. Coming from a big family, Derek had always imagined he'd have 5 or 6 kids with a big house and a big yard so they could play outside. That was until he met Meredith, of course. It wasn't that she wasn't motherly but she wasn't very family oriented. She didn't have much of a family besides a famous dead mom and a crappy dad so she didn't understand the true meaning of family and how much happiness it could bring you. However, Derek still had pounds of hope, she was a great mother to Zola and Bailey and he figured she'd be happy to try for a third if it meant more practice.


Meredith and Derek came home to a clean house filled with laughter from their children and the sweet scent of blueberry muffins coming from the kitchen. Maggie was a goddess. The mess that Meredith left the night the cops showed up was now picked up. There were no toys or books strewn across the living room floor, the kitchen counters looked as though they had been wiped down and the dishes were put away, and even the kids' rooms were neat. Maggie was, indeed, a goddess.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Zola ran up to the front door to greet her parents with a smile so bright it mimicked the sun. Meredith hadn't been home much since the accident. She'd stayed at the hospital for most of the two weeks, working and staying with Derek. Maggie had brought the kids to visit every few days but they Meredith and Derek didn't get to spend a proper amount of time with their

kids.

"Hi Zozo. What are you doing, baby?" Meredith said as she crouched down to pick up her daughter. Derek kissed Zola's cheek and ran his head over her

head.

"Me and bailey are playing puzzles in my room with aunt Maggie and aunt Lex." Derek and Meredith looked at each other.

"Aunt Lex?" Zola nodded as they pushed past their daughter and looked into her room. Sure enough there Lexie was sitting on the floor putting together a puzzle of horses running on the beach with Bailey and Maggie.

"Lexie! What are you doing here?" Meredith ran over to her sister and crouched down to hug her. Lexie's warm embrace reminded Meredith of how much she missed her sister.

"Amelia called to tell me about what happened. I tried to get a flight out here last week but I had a patient

that kept coding and I couldn't get away. I'm sorry." Turning to Derek Lexie said, "How are you? Were your stats okay today? Amelia said everything went okay with your surgery and you were recovering well. So you should be okay but, you know, the patient knows best." Lexie babbled much like Meredith does, it's a Grey thing.

Derek laughed and smiled, happy that Lexie was here. "Yes, I'm okay. I took some more time off to spend with the kids and recover a bit before getting back into surgery. How long are you here for?"

"I'm only here for the weekend, Mt. Sinai wouldn't give me more than that, you know how New York is, high profile patients everywhere. But we're going to make the most of the few days, I've already made plans to cook dinner for you guys tonight." Lexie smiled and got up, hugging Derek while he kissed the top of her hair.

"So glad you're here Lex. So, what's for dinner?" Derek flashed his million dollar smile and walked with Lexie into the kitchen.


Meredith and Maggie were cleaning up the puzzle from earlier while the kids helped Lexie cook dinner. "Thank you for your help these past two weeks. I really, really appreciate it. I'm sorry for dropping you with the house and the kids. Anything you need please don't hesitate to ask, ever." Meredith was so busy and worried the last two weeks that she hadn't even gotten around to thanking Maggie. She wondered how she got so lucky to have such amazing sisters, even if she didn't always know about them.

"Meredith, you're my sister and this is what family does for each other. Besides, I adore your kids I loved spending so much time with them. And your

house is beautiful I'm considering moving into your guest bedroom." Maggie definitely had more of Richard in her than Ellis, she was kind, supportive, and loving. Meredith was happy that Maggie was raised in the family that she was because she was able to possess such amazing family values. Whether she admitted it or not, Meredith learned a lot about family and about being a sister from Maggie and Lexie because they were raised by loving families. It was almost as if her dark and twisty side wasn't existent anymore.

"We'd be happy to have you over whenever, you're always welcome. The kids love you, you know, and I'm so thankful you're in their life. After Mark died and Lexie left, Zola was so heartbroken. Don't get me wrong, Amelia is great with them but, you know, you get on the floor and play with them and bake and just thank you." Meredith stopped herself before she embarked on a full babble session. She was still nervous sometimes around Maggie because she was brilliant and young and surgically speaking, resembled Ellis Grey more than Meredith did. Meredith was a great surgeon and she hoped one day she would be as extraordinary as her mother was but she couldn't help but think that Maggie, who was 5 years younger than Meredith, was already an excellent surgeon just like her mother. Derek didn't ease her work insecurities either when he constantly compared his work to hers, DC to Seattle. She was trying hard not to think of their previous fights before the accident but the wounds were still fresh and she hurt.

Maggie smiled at Meredith and nodded her head as they finished cleaning and went to join the others for dinner.