Alright, so this may be short, but I wanted to get something on here. Exams are stealing all of my time! This is the first half of the chapter 3 I had in mind. I hope to have the second half up soon. Enjoy, and thank you for reading!

After a long day, Meredith drove up to their house with her two children in the back seat. They were all tired. The daycare worker had told Meredith that Zola had refused to nap that day. At first, Meredith felt a little irritated, but quickly stopped herself. Zola was three years old, and had a very strong will. If Zola didn't want to do something, it could be very difficult to make her do it. So, instead of expressing her irritation, she thanked the daycare worker for letting her know. Meredith knew that she might be dealing with a very cranky little girl once they got home.

As they entered the house, it felt a little different for some reason. Meredith wasn't sure why, she had arrived home while Derek was at work plenty of times. But this time, things were different. It seemed quiet. Meredith was reminded that she would come home to this for a few more days. She didn't like that thought.

"Mama, I want dinner!"

"Zola, sweetie, remember you need to ask nicely when you want something"

"Oh…mama, can we have dinner please?"

"Yes, thank you for asking nicely Zo. Do you want to help?"

"Yay!"

Meredith had been told that Bailey had eaten just before she picked up the kids from daycare, so he was sleeping soundly now. She and Derek usually liked to feed him when they got home, and then he'd go to bed for the night. But, Bailey had started crying at daycare, and so he had been fed earlier than usual. This didn't upset Meredith at all, of course she wanted her son to be fed when he was hungry. Her first instinct would be to wake him, so that he'd sleep well tonight. But she had read a lot of parenting books, and knew that waking a sleeping baby was not a good idea. The best thing she could do now was to put him in his crib, and hope that he had a long, good sleep.

As Meredith carried Bailey to his room, she felt a twinge of sadness because he was asleep already. She had missed him all day, except for the lunch time visit. But, he was content and asleep right now. All Meredith wanted was her babies to be content and happy. She kissed his forehead and told him she loved him. He looked just like Derek when he slept.

As Meredith returned to the kitchen, she found Zola getting out pots and pans, with a huge grin on her face.

"Mama, we're cooking!"

"Look, what a big help you are!"

"I help!"

Meredith smiled, even though Derek had bribed her, she found so much joy in helping. Meredith wondered how long this would last.

"Let's see what daddy made for us tonight, okay Zo?"

"But…daddy not here mama"

"That's right, but he made sure we had enough food. He's a pretty great daddy isn't he?"

"Yup!"

"Do you want to have some pasta, or soup?"

"Pasta!"

"Alright, it looks like daddy made us some sauce. We're going to make the noodles"

Meredith wasn't the best cook around-okay, she wasn't a cook at all. But, Derek had showed her some basic things. One of which included pasta noodles.

She knew you had to boil the water, and then put the pasta in, and wait for eight to ten minutes, depending on what the package says. But, she wanted Zola to be able to help, and she was not comfortable with Zola being near boiling water.

Meredith used her iPad to see if it was possible to boil the water with the pasta already inside, so that Zola could help. She found that her idea would work, much to Zola's delight.

"Okay Zo, can you bring me one of those pots please?"

"Here mama!"

"Okay, now you're going to help me by pouring the pasta into the pot"

Meredith lifted Zola onto the counter and she eagerly picked up the box of pasta to start pouring it.

Zola's excitement got the best of her. She turned the box completely upside down, resulting in uncooked pasta all over the counter, all over the floor, and in the pot. That was all it took. The crocodile tears started.

Meredith's phone began to ring, but she decided to leave it. It was probably Derek, and he would understand. She'd call him back once Zola calmed down.

Then came the cries from the other side of the house.

Meredith loved the high stress environment at work. Running from patient to patient, alarms going off, running on adrenaline. She thrived on it, she'd worked in that environment for years.

But even with those years as a surgeon, she was not prepared for this. Not at all.