Meredith picked up her crying daughter, and quickly carried her to Bailey's room.

"Zo, everything is okay. I'm not mad, it was just a little accident"

Meredith's words went unheard as Zola continued to cry. Meredith just held her close, hoping she would calm down soon.

Upon entering Bailey's room, Meredith placed Zola in the rocking chair, and picked up her crying son. Meredith had suspected he'd been startled by Zola's cries, but he seemed to be very upset. She felt the baby's forehead, and he felt warm. Too warm. No wonder he was so upset. She also remembered that Bailey had also been fussy that morning, and had fallen asleep earlier than usual.

Bailey continued to scream as Meredith's "doctor alarms" started going off.

She needed to take the baby into the bathroom, that's where the thermometer was kept. Meredith didn't want to leave either one of her crying children alone, so with Bailey close to her chest, she knelt down beside Zola, who was looking at the floor with tears streaming down her face.

"Zo, baby look at me. Look at mommy"

Zola looked up, reluctantly.

"I'm not mad at you. Nobody is mad at you, okay? Let's go to the bathroom with Bailey, and we can talk some more. Take my hand"

Still sniffling, Zola took Meredith's hand and all three of them made their way to the bathroom.

Meredith retrieved the baby thermometer, and then took the kids to the living room, where she took Bailey's temperature.

His temperature was elevated, definitely a fever. It wasn't high enough to for Meredith to want to rush him to the hospital, but it also wasn't low enough for her to call it "low grade" either. Babies sometimes got low grade fevers when they were teething, even though Meredith's medical knowledge told her that was just a coincidence. She had seen it firsthand with Zola more than once.

Bailey had calmed down slightly, but only when Meredith was holding him. Zola was still quietly crying, and Meredith wanted to talk to her, to make sure she knew that she wasn't in trouble, and that everything was alright. She was sure that, if Bailey hadn't been screaming, Zola would have calmed down by now. Zola didn't like hearing her baby brother cry any more than her parents did.

Meredith grabbed her phone, to see two missed calls and a couple texts from Derek, asking if everything was okay, and to call him when she got the chance. She had to talk to him, she didn't know what to do about Bailey's fever. In that moment, it didn't matter that she was a doctor. She was a mom, who didn't want to make decisions about her children without her husband's opinion.

"Zo, I'm going to call daddy, okay? You can talk to him"

"Okay". Normally Zola would have been excited about talking to Derek on the phone. Meredith was getting a bit worried, but hoped Derek would cheer her up. She dialed his number and he picked up on the first ring.

"Mer?"

"Hey"

"Hey, is everything alright? You weren't answering, I was getting worried"

"I'm sorry, we had a bit of a double meltdown starting when you called the first time"

"Oh no, are they okay now? Bailey's still crying isn't he?"

"He is, but he's much better than he was a few minutes ago. Zola and I had a bit of a mishap in the kitchen"

This sparked Zola's attention

"NO! Mama no tell daddy that!"

Zola slid off the couch in tears, running to her room

Derek felt extremely guilty that he wasn't at home to help with everything that seemed to be going on.

"What was that about?"

"I don't know, I need to go talk to her. I haven't had a chance yet. Derek, Bailey has a fever of 101, he won't stop crying, he was pretty tired tonight, he was fussy this morning…I don't…what I do?"

Meredith heard noises from Zola's room, it sounded like she was hitting things. She let out an exasperated sigh.

"Zola's having a tantrum. I gotta go. I'm going to leave the phone on, can you keep talking to Bailey? He likes your voice"

"I….yeah, of course, of course"

"Okay, I'll be back in a few minutes"

Meredith put Bailey in his bassinet in the living room, placing her cell phone near him, turning the volume up so that he could hear Derek.

As she walked away, she could hear Derek starting to sing to Bailey. He loved the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" just as much as Zola had.

Meredith entered Zola's room, and found her sulking on her bed. She knelt down in front of her, but Zola wouldn't look her in the eye.

"ZoZo, it's just you and me. Can we talk about what's making you sad?"

Zola choked out another sob, and Meredith sat on the bed and pulled her into her lap, rocking her back and forth.

"Sssshh, everything is alright Lovebug. I've got you, I've got you"

After a few minutes of rocking, Zola stopped crying, except for a few escape tears.

"I made a mess"

"Messes happen sometimes, Zo. You didn't mean to do it. You're still my best helper"

"Daddy told me to help"

Meredith realized what was causing all of this, partly anyway. Zola felt she'd let Derek down. Meredith made a note to herself to have a word with Derek about this bribing thing later.

"Daddy knows that messes happen too, sweet girl. He makes messes too, you know"

"He does?" Zola's eyes lit up

"Of course, and I make messes. We know Bailey makes messes, right? Everybody makes messes"

Zola and Meredith laughed together, but something still seemed to be bothering the little girl.

"Mama?"

"Yes, baby?"

"What if daddy doesn't come back for a while, like before?"

Meredith was sure her heart stopped for a second. She had to catch her breath, and suppress the tears that were threatening to fall.

"Before?" This was all Meredith could get out.

"Yeah, sometimes you and daddy go away. Or I go away, and I don't know where anyone is"

Meredith struggled to get any words out.

She heard Bailey's loud cry from the living room.

Meredith squeezed Zola a little tighter

"Mommy and daddy are never going to leave you, Zo. Never. Let's go check on your brother, and then we can talk some more okay?"

"Okay, mama"

Meredith had the skills to suppress her emotions, and carry on as if things were normal. She'd been living like that her entire life, until Derek turned her world upside down—in the best way possible. She wanted to hide in her bedroom and cry, she wanted Derek to be here, so that he could help her and Zola. She wanted to take away Zola's memories of being left alone—and she had far too many of those memories and experiences. But in that moment, her little boy was crying and he wasn't feeling well. So, exploring Zola's feelings would have to wait for a while. She had to suppress everything she felt like doing, and take care of her children.

As Meredith and Zola entered the living room, they found Bailey screaming in his bassinet, and he'd knocked Meredith's phone to the floor.

Meredith picked up her baby boy, trying her best to soothe him. She put Bailey back down briefly, to pick up the phone, and Derek had been disconnected. It had probably happened when the phone fell to the floor.

Picking Bailey up again, Meredith went to retrieve her iPad, so they could FaceTime Derek. FaceTime would be much easier, they could talk without her having to hold the phone to her ear, and they would be able to see each other.

She quickly texted Derek, telling him to call on FaceTime.

More than anything, she wanted him to be here. She was exhausted and hungry. Zola hadn't had a nap today, she was upset and hungry. Bailey was sick, and wouldn't stop crying. And there was a mess all over the kitchen floor, but that wasn't part of Meredith's worries. She wondered how single mothers coped with this. She was having enough trouble, and she'd only been home alone with her kids for an hour. Single moms did this all day, every day. That thought brought Meredith another feeling of anxiety; that if she was a better mother, she'd be able to keep her children happy. She'd be able to tend to both their needs at the same time.

She quickly dispelled that thought, knowing it was irrational. She also knew that she was already feeling emotional enough, she didn't have time to feel like a bad mom right now.

When she answered Derek's FaceTime call, she was relieved to see his face. Even though he was on the other side of the country, the sight of him calmed her down a little.

He immediately noticed that something was up, just by looking into his wife's eyes. He could read her like a book, something that Meredith loved, even if it annoyed her sometimes. She could never hide what she was feeling from him. She didn't want to tell him about what Zola had said right now. She was worried Zola would notice that it was making her sad. She did not want Zola to think she was somehow "bad", or anything like that.

Meredith would tell Derek later tonight, when her babies would not see the tears.

"Hey. Sorry, there was a loud noise and the phone went dead. Is Zola alright?"

"Yeah, I think Bailey knocked the phone to the floor". Meredith moved the iPad so that Derek could see Zola.

"Hi daddy! I good now!"

"I see that, baby girl. You look like you've grown in one day!"

"I did daddy! I made a mess, but mama says you make messes too. So I'm still a helper!"

Derek chucked, and also clued into the fact that Zola may have been upset about the mess because he told her to help. He now understood why Meredith hadn't liked the idea of bribing their little girl.

"That's right Zo, we all make messes. You were trying to help mama, that's the best thing of all. I'm proud of you"

"You pwoud of me?"

"That's right, ZoZo"

Zola seemed enchanted that her daddy was proud. She was such a daddy's girl.

Bailey began to cry louder, shifting Derek's attention back to his wife.

"Is he still warm, Mer?"

"Yeah….he might be warmer than before. I'll check again"

As Meredith was taking Bailey's temperature again, she ran through possible scenarios in her head.

"Derek, what if he's really sick? Zola never had a fever this high before, at least not since we brought her home"

"Let's just wait, and see what the thermometer says"

The thermometer beeped a few seconds later

"It's the same, still 101"

"Okay, that's good that it hasn't gone up. Did you give him some Tylenol?"

"No, I'll do that right now. What do you think is wrong with him?"

"It's probably a virus, but we'll keep watching him"

"Derek…I don't…should I take him in to the hospital? Call Arizona?"

"Meredith, slow down. We're doctors. Bailey is going to be just fine. His fever should go down with Tylenol, and someone can see him tomorrow"

"What if it doesn't?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Just breathe."

"Okay…okay, I'll get the Tylenol. Can you entertain them for a few minutes? Bailey, no more knocking daddy to the floor, okay?"

Meredith placed some pillows around the baby, so that he wouldn't fall off the couch, telling Zola to watch him and talk to daddy.

"Mama?"

"What is it, Zo?"

"Can we please have dinner?"

Meredith smiled at the fact Zola had asked so nicely. She was sure that Zola must be starving by now. She'd been hungry when they walked in the door.

"Yes, of course we can, Zo. I'll start it right now"

Meredith started to cook the pasta, and then got the baby Tylenol out of the medicine cabinet.

Giving Tylenol to a squirming, crying baby proved to be a difficult task. Bailey was younger now than Zola had been when she came home, and it had been much easier to give her medicine.

After some struggling, Bailey swallowed most of the medicine. His face clearly indicated that he did not approve of having something that tasted gross forced into his mouth. He started to cry again, and it was a different cry. Meredith recognized it—he was hungry. She needed to feed him. Feeding him would also help get the taste of the Tylenol out of his mouth.

But, there was boiling water on the stove, and, Bailey sometimes ate for long periods at a time. Meredith knew that he would likely need the comfort from breastfeeding, since he wasn't feeling well. She had to quickly finish dinner first. That way, Bailey could eat without being interrupted.

"Derek, he's hungry. But I have to finish dinner for Zola, and then I can feed him. I don't know how single parents do this."

"Mer, I'm so sorry I'm not there. What can I do from here?"

"It's not your fault Bailey's fever decided to come today. You probably need to sleep, it's late there. Don't you have to get up early?"

"That's not important. My family is what's important. You get dinner, I'll entertain the kids"

He used his McDreamy look on her, and she couldn't help smiling.

"Thank you. I'll be right back"

Sorry for the abrupt ending. A lot happens in this chapter, so I thought it would be better to publish this now instead of having you wait a few more days.

This story seems to have a mind of its own, it's already much longer than I was anticipating. There are still a few more chapters to go.

Happy Easter!