You guys are great reviewers. I have found a million great suggestions throughout all of them and take them into consideration. Apparently, I should update more frequently...so you know, I'll try.
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Two days later, Meredith Grey was walking into the office of the gorgeous Seattle Preporatory Day School with Maria, who looked more confident than she did.
"Are you ready for this?" Meredith asked somewhat nervously, "I mean, you've never been to a school in America!"
"Seriously?" Maria asked, rolling her eyes, "I'll be fine. You're the one that is freaking out on me. Are you sure you're ready for an American hospital?"
"Seriously! I'm worried about you...don't worry about me, this hospital just holds a lot of good and bad memories," Meredith straightened Maria's required plaid skirt for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Come on mom," Maria dragged her mom towards the office, opening the doors.
"Hi," Meredith smiled at the secretary, "We're supposed to be meeting with Dr. Benson? Maria here is a new student."
"He's expecting you," the secretay smiled back, placing the phone on the cradle, "He will be right through that door."
Maria was actually the tiniest bit nervous walking into her new headmaster's office. Looking around at the dark wooden chairs and walls, Maria felt a little bit intimidated.
"Dr. Grey I presume?" the headmaster stuck out his hand in her direction, "It's a pleasure. And you must be Maria?"
"Hi Dr. Benson," Meredith smiled, "We're here for Maria's first day."
"So you just moved back to Seattle?" he asked, motioning for the two to sit down, "From Paris?"
"Yes," Meredith tried to block out all of her earlier memories, "I used to live in Seattle. I did my surgical residency at Seattle Grace and then continued to London, had Maria, and moved to Paris."
"Does Maria have a father?" the principal asked, looking through the files.
"Yeah," Meredith said awkwardly, "But we aren't married..." Meredith knew that her pathetic love story was not going to make an impression on a headmaster.
"Well," he smiled warmly, surprising Meredith, "We welcome you both back to Seattle, and I wish you luck with Head of Neurosurgery, I know that is a very competitive hospital."
"Thank you," Meredith nodded sheepishly, "Is this the point where I leave?"
"I believe so," Dr. Benson laughed, "We'll take good care of her."
"I believe you," she hugged her daughter, "Someone that you know will pick you up...either Izzy or myself. Make sure to say hi to the twins if you see them."
"Okay mom," Maria returned the hug, "I love you."
"You too," Meredith grinned, walking out of the office.
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Meredith cleared her throat, walking into Derek's office awkwardly.
"Hello Dr. Grey," Derek said as professionally as possible, "Welcome back to Seattle Grace."
"It is really good to be back," she looked around the office, for the first time in years she felt like she was at home.
"Tired of the French?" he asked with a slight hint of hostility in his voice. Meredith only glared at him.
"Is it always going to be like this Derek?" she finally outright asked, "I mean, we had sex two nights ago and now you pretend as if I'm just a casual acquaintance."
Derek was taken aback by the bluntness of Meredith Grey. He couldn't help but melt looking at her cute smile, her little nose, and her inviting eyes. He could almost smell the lavender from her hair - a smell he couldn't help but welcome back.
"I want to spend a day with Maria," he requested, "I want to at least know a little bit about her. It is really hard not knowing your daughter. I feel like such a bad father...I should've known you were lying to me."
"Derek!" she sounded surprised, "I'm the bad mother for not letting her know her father from a young age. I know, I left, it was a mistake. I was scared, Derek. And If its okay with Maria, I guess you could spend an afternoon with her or something."
"Are you sure?" he asked, "After all, you seem to have done a good job raising her."
"I suppose," Meredith nodded, "But she has been asking about you since she was really little, and I guess it would be smart of me to introduce you to her. Really introduce you, not have her introduce herself."
"Okay," he nodded, "Anyways, here is your pager...here are some charts...welcome back to Seattle Grace."
"It's good to be back," she smiled, taking in the hospital around her.
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"Sex with McDreamy?" Cristina asked angrily as Meredith sat down next to her at lunch, "You failed to tell me about your hot night with the brain surgeon. Two brain surgeons, no less. I bet that is hot."
"Izzie!" Meredith cried, "Do you have to tell everyone my personal life?"
"Well, when you come in the house in the wee hours of the morning beaming and adjusting your jeans...what else am I supposed to do?"
"Pretend like you didn't see anything, not tell anyone," Meredith rolled her eyes and took a bite of her sandwich.
"Yeah, you should've told me Mer, I'm your person," Cristina had gotten softer in the past ten years, and Meredith wasn't used to it.
"I'm not used to being around you guys yet," she openly admitted, "It feels like its been a few months, not ten years."
"You're telling me!" George exclaimed, "It feels like just yesterday I married Callie in Vegas and Cristina was searching for a lost leg in ambulances."
"What about the time I had my hand on a bomb which happened to be in a body cavity?" Meredith laughed, "Those were some good times...I almost died!"
"Then there was the time that Bailey's water broke all over your shoes," Izzie looked at George and laughed, "You were the hero of the day."
"What about the time that Meredith had appendicitis and she was on some extreme drugs and started babbling to Satan?" Cristina joked, "Those were good times too."
"Our glory days," Meredith said aloofly.
"Those were NOT my glory days," Izzie rolled her eyes, "Being a surgeon...flying solo, these are my days."
"Failing my intern year..." George frowned, "But being the best the next year...I've had better times than those."
"What about being left at the altar?" Cristina asked, "Or the back of the church? That felt good."
Suddenly, the group looked up to see the illustrious redhead standing above them, "What about the time that Derek punched out Mark because of Meredith? I remember those times."
"Hi Add," Izzie smiled, motioning for her to join them. Meredith knew that ten years had passed, but she didn't know when Addison had gone from Satan to Add.
"Hey guys," she smiled at her now colleagues, "Any juicy surgeries?"
"None," they all frowned, "Quiet board."
"How are the boys?" she asked Izzie, always interested in children, since she couldn't have any of her own.
"They are great!" she beamed, "I'm proud of them. I mean, they are eight-year old boys, but they handle the demand of George and I's careers great."
"That's great," Addison said, interrupted by the beeping of Meredith's pager. It was from Derek.
"The Chief bellows," she rolled her eyes, "See you guys later."
"Welcome back Grey," Addison smiled, patting her as she walked by.
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Maria sat at her desk in the classroom, bored by her teacher, Mrs. Claxton. Maria felt weird learning about the geography of the United States, she didn't know that much of it. Sure, she could name every European country and capital if she got time to think, but she could only list about fifteen or so states, and she couldn't tell you their locations.
"Maria, can you tell us what the capital of North Carolina is?" the teacher asked politely, not thinking about Maria's lack of geographic knowledge.
"Ummm..." she sat nervously, feeling the eyes of her classmates, "Due to the fact I started school in France, I didn't really learn US geography or anything." Embarassed, she sunk far down into her chair and ignored her classmates.
"Oh!" the teacher exclaimed, "I'm sorry. The capital of North Carolina is Raleigh."
"Duhh..." she heard one of the girls behind her say, she turned around and smirked at the girl, she couldn't deal with her classmates.
"Hey," the girl next to her whispered, "It's okay. I was new this year to this school...my name is Sarah, but I was adopted, so my birthname was Katey, Katey Karev."
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"What exactly do you want?" Meredith frowned, hurrying into his office, "I thought I was going to get a nice, juicy surgery."
"Well this..." he cleared his throat, "Is a booty call."
Derek walked towards the door, clicked the lock in, and swiftly shut the blinds in one big sweeping motion.
Meredith stared straight into his eyes, taking one step forward. Suddenly, his tongue was down her throat, and they were pressed up against the wall. Running her hands through his hair, Meredith Grey, for the first time in over ten years, realized she was where she wanted to be.
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Katey Karev? Booty call? What in the world? REVIEW. The next chapter will probably be better.