"Any news?" Meredith looks anxious as she approaches Cristina in her office. "Did you hear anything from Stanford?"
"Sorry," Cristina says. "I have contacted everyone I know there, but their medical program for next year is completely full with a lengthy wait list. I can't get an interview for Rob."
"Thanks for trying." Meredith starts to pace as she checks her watch. "Okay. Rob should be getting out of his UCLA interview any minute now. And I'm still waiting to hear back from the Deans of Dartmouth and Columbia."
"At least he's already been accepted at Wake Forest," her friend counsels. "So he will go to amedical school next fall."
"But he could do better," Meredith says dismissively. "And if he'd started applying in the fall like everyone else—"
"But he didn't." Cristina smiles. "Relax, he's got fantastic recommendation letters and solid MCAT scores. He will rock the UCLA interview."
"'Relax.' You wouldn't be so calm if this was Chloe trying to get into medical school," Meredith responds.
"True. But Chloe applied in September and got accepted everywhere," Cristina smirks.
"Quit bragging." Meredith jumps as her phone rings. She hastily answers it. "Talk to me, Rob. How did the interview go?"
"I think it went well," her son replies. "Listen, I need your advice about a bit of a situation with the wedding—"
"I'm not a wedding planner," Meredith reminds him. "Tell me about UCLA. Did you get a 'yes' or 'no' feeling?"
Rob sighs. "They loved me so much that they did backflips. Now can I please ask you a question as my mother?"
"Fine, but then you have to tell me every single thing about the interview."
"Okay." Rob gulps. "So, um, Mallory doesn't want JoJo to be a bridesmaid, so I'm going to ask her to be one of my attendants. And I'm not really sure how to do that without making her mad. She's been dropping maid of honor hints."
"Why doesn't Mallory want JoJo as a bridesmaid?" Meredith looks at Cristina, who shrugs.
"She doesn't think they're close friends." Rob replies. "And we want to keep the wedding small. So how do I ask her without pissing her off?"
Meredith thinks quickly. "Go with wanting to keep the wedding small. Flatter her by telling her how much it will mean to you to have her by your side. Do not get involved with whatever is happening between the girls. You never, ever, want to get in between two fighting women."
Cristina snickers and whispers "true" to Meredith.
"Okay." Rob exhales. "Thanks Mom, I mean it."
"Now tell me everything about the interview," she commands, walking out of Cristina's office. "Were you there early like I told you to be? What did you wear?"
Rob sighs as he settles into a seat in the passenger lounge at LAX. He draws in a deep breath, before pulling out his phone and calling his sister.
"Hey!" JoJo answers quickly. "How was the UCLA interview?"
"Good," he smiles. "I think it went really well. Listen, I have something to ask of you."
"Go ahead."
He gulps. "Would you stand up with me at the wedding as one of my attendants?"
"What?" JoJo asks, surprise coming through the telephone.
"I asked if you would be one of my attendants," Rob says. "Jonah is going to be my best man, and I would like you to also be standing up there with me."
"I don't understand," she says. "Why am I not a bridesmaid?"
"We want to keep the wedding party small," he says. "She's got Chloe and Annick as her attendants, and I want you and Jonah."
"Who is Annick?"
"One of her friends from school."
"I'm your sister, Rob. I was hoping Mallory would ask me to be the maid of honor, but I can settle for bridesmaid."
"Mallory really wants her sister to be her maid of honour," Rob grimaces. "What's wrong about being an attendant?"
"It's just weird," JoJo sighs. "I don't know."
"You'll … be unique," Rob offers. "You've already been a bridesmaid like five times, right? This is new! And it excuses you from having to do the bridal shower and stuff. You can wear a black version of the bridesmaid dress and stand out."
"Would I have to be an usher too?"
"No, Diego is going to be one, and I can ask some of my buddies to help there."
"I'll think about it," his sister says. "But I really don't get it, Rob. I always thought I'd be the maid of honor or a bridesmaid at your wedding, not stuck off to the side as an attendant."
"You wouldn't be off to the side."
"But I have a great idea for the bachelorette party, Rob. I want to be a bridesmaid."
"JoJo …" Rob sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. "You could organize the wedding shower? People still have those, right?"
"My idea is not appropriate for that," JoJo snorts. Then she pauses. "Is there something that you're not telling me?"
Rob grimaces. "Look … Mallory says you've been telling everyone that she's pregnant and that's really bothering her, and FYI, she is definitely not pregnant. She thinks that the two of you aren't exactly friendly. If you really want to be a bridesmaid, maybe you two could clear the air with each other?"
"Oh really?" JoJo laughs. "The Hurricane needs to have a sense of humor. I'm just joking around. You did get engaged very quickly. And I would prefer to be a bridesmaid."
"I'll … talk with Mallory when I get back to Paris," Rob says. "But I think the two of you should talk."
"You talk to her first," JoJo says. "She's the one who ruined my birthday party, remember?
"I'm not supposed to talk about that incident," Rob admits. "And come on, Jo, she was like three or four years old then, and she said she was sorry. That was years ago. Let it go."
"Talk to her," is all his sister says in response.
"Where are all of the strays?" Derek smiles as he hangs up his coat after a long day.
"They took Leina out to celebrate her first solo surgery," Meredith replies, before greeting him with a kiss. "It's just the two of us home tonight."
"What will we do with all this peace and quiet?" He pulls her into his arms, then grimaces as Meredith's phone rings.
"It's JoJo." Meredith tells him, before answering. She looks puzzled. Derek can hear ranting through the phone.
"What? Why?" Meredith sighs. "You want me to what?"
Derek smiles and waits patiently as Meredith scowls.
"JoJo, talk to your brother. Or Mallory. It's their wedding, not mine. I'm not getting involved."
"Ah," Derek says to himself, walking away. He goes into the kitchen and pulls out food to heat up. The microwave is finished by the time Meredith enters the room.
"I can't believe Post-it weddings never caught on," she grumbles, sitting down at the table.
"What is today's drama report?"
His wife sighs. "Rob asked JoJo to be one of his attendants, and she'd rather be a bridesmaid. Rob is going to talk to Mallory, but JoJo doesn't think he will stand up for her. So I'm supposed to call Cristina and make her make Mallory make JoJo a bridesmaid."
"Makes sense." Derek grins.
"Hmph!" She sighs. "I don't have time for this. I spent all day making phone calls to get Rob an interview at Dartmouth. Which I managed to do, at last. By the way, you're giving a lecture at Dartmouth next year."
"What?" He chuckles. "You whored me out to get Rob an interview?"
"Yes!" Meredith waves her fork at him. "Do you know how hard it is to get an interview at this time of year?"
"I know, I know. I've tried to find someone with a spot in their program, or a short waiting list, but I can't do that and run the hospital too." He smiles and touches her hand. "It will be okay. Even if he starts at a crap school, he can always transfer to a better school later."
"Why are you so calm about this?"
"Because I'm going to spend a night alone with my wife," Derek replies. "We should turn off our phones, misplace our pagers, and just forget about kids and weddings and medical school and the hospital. We have the house to ourselves, Meredith."
She smiles and shakes her head. "This is our son's future."
"Just for one night, let it go," he counsels. "We will both hit the phones again tomorrow, trying to find another opening."
"But—"
Derek places a finger on her mouth. "But Rob is an adult now. As long as he is going to a medical school, I'm happy."
"You're home!" Mallory smiles happily when she enters the apartment. "Welcome back!" She slings her arms around Rob's neck and kisses him.
"Nice to see you too," he smiles ruefully, holding her close.
"What's wrong? I thought you said UCLA went well."
"It did," Rob says. "I just called the bar. The guy who was supposed to cover my shifts quit two days ago, so my shifts didn't get covered and I got fired."
"Oh." She rubs his arms in sympathy. "Well, you can find another job, right? With daytime shifts so we can see each other every night?"
"How am I supposed to hold down a new job when my mother keeps setting up interviews that I have to fly back to the States for?" Rob counters. "By the way, I'm going to New Hampshire next week. Mom got me an interview at Dartmouth."
"Dartmouth!" Mallory grins. "It's Ivy League, and it's close to Harvard and Chloe! You're going to Dartmouth!"
Rob laughs. "You know I prefer UCLA. Their diabetes research centre is world-class. Plus, Los Angeles is warmer and closer to Seattle. And my mother went to Dartmouth so there's that family legacy thing I want to avoid."
"But UCLA isn't Ivy League, and the Shepherd and Grey legacies are going to follow you everywhere anyways."
"Whatever happened to 'I'll move to wherever you want to study, Rob'?" He grins.
"And I will," she assures him. "I just prefer Dartmouth."
"I'm the one who will be going. I think I should have a say in choosing my medical school."
"Sure," she smiles. "I can see why you'd feel that way."
He laughs. "Look, I haven't been accepted at UCLA or Dartmouth, so why argue about it?"
"True. At least you have an actual acceptance from Wake Forest," Mallory says, pulling off her coat. "You can start there and maybe transfer to Dartmouth after your first term?"
He smiles softly and takes her jacket, hanging it up. "I don't want to drag you all over the country when you're going to be starting your career as the best chef ever."
"Aw."
"And I still prefer UCLA. Now, how are you? You look tired."
She shrugs. "It's been a long week, and I missed you. I don't like living by myself anymore. And when I come home from school, I'm on the phone or the computer with the wedding planner."
Rob just smiles and strokes her cheek.
Mallory frowns. "What?"
"I talked with JoJo …" Rob takes her hands. "She really wants to be a bridesmaid. Actually, she wanted to be the maid of honor. She thinks the attendant thing is 'weird,' and she wants to put together your bachelorette party. Is there any way we can make this work?"
"She can be a bridesmaid when Chloe gets married," Mallory wisecracks.
"Maybe if the two of you talked …?" Rob looks at her hopefully.
She shakes her head. "No. Now come on, let's talk about something else. It's so rare that we're together now. What do you want to do? Go have a nap? You look exhausted."
"I am exhausted," he admits. "This jet lag is killing me."
"Then go lie down on the bed while I make something for you to eat."
"I want JoJo to be a bridesmaid," Rob blurts out. "I always thought she'd be a bridesmaid whenever I got married. It would make me very happy, and it would make her happy and … just stick her on the end, after Chloe and Annick. You won't even know she's there."
Mallory says nothing, she just stares at him with an intense expression that reminds him very much of her father.
Rob draws in a deep breath. "I don't think that you're being very flexible on this. I have let you have your way on everything else. This is my one request for what is my wedding, too. She is my sister, and she prefers to be a bridesmaid. And I want her to be happy with her place in the wedding party."
"What?" Mallory turns red. "I'm not being flexible? I'm trying to arrange a wedding from another continent and make sure all of our bills get paid when I don't even see you. You said that you would get a daytime job but you haven't. You're just flying in and out—"
"Because you're making me go to medical school!" Rob explodes. "I should have waited another year. My parents are paying a fortune in airfare because you and your stupid plans dictate that I have to be a resident at a certain time—"
"My plans are not stupid!" Mallory shouts back. "And at least I have a plan! And I am not makingyou go to medical school! You can wait if you damn well want to!"
"But you wouldn't marry me without an acceptance letter!"
"You're the one who couldn't wait to get married! I can wait! I can wait years before ever saying 'I do'!"
They stare at each other, shocked.
Cristina and Meredith urgently page each other before meeting up in an on call room.
"I just got a call from Rob," Meredith says, pointing to her phone. "He says the wedding is off because your control freak daughter is impossible, and he's going to South America to get away from her!"
"I just got off the phone with Mallory!" Cristina shoots back. "Your dumb ass son has her sobbing because he dumped her, and now she wants to drop out of school and come home early!"
They glare at each other for a long moment. Before bursting into laughter.
"Okay, what did Rob say?" Cristina smiles.
"Mallory won't let JoJo be a bridesmaid, she's being bossy about where he goes to medical school when he thinks he should wait another year, and apparently she's not as excited about getting married as he thought she was." Meredith reports. "Also, he got fired. What did Mallory say?
"He was all 'you will do what I tell you to' and says she is forcing him to go to medical school in order to marry her and fit into her grand scheme and now he is abandoning her to go to Costa Rica," Cristina replies.
"Huh." Meredith shakes her head. "This is a fine mess."
"Indeed. I might have been a little harsh with Mallory when she said she wanted to drop out," Cristina admits.
"And I told Rob that he absolutely has to go medical school this fall and he hung up on me," Meredith says. "Cristina, we have to do something. My son can be a brilliant doctor. He just needs to go to medical school already. He can't go trekking off again."
"And my stubborn daughter wants to throw away a very expensive education to come home and cry on her daddy's shoulder," Cristina sighs. "Mallory left a message for Owen before she got me on the phone. We have to fix this before he hears the message and goes to Paris to retrieve her. You know that Owen will do whatever Mallory wants."
"Rob emailed Derek!" Meredith scowls. "Derek will get on his high horse, and Rob will disappear for a couple of years. And then he'll never be a doctor."
"The men are in surgery for at least a couple more hours," Cristina says. "And it's what, 9 o'clock already in Paris? We don't have much time but we can save the wedding."
"We?" Meredith gasps. "What do we know about that?"
"We're going to save the wedding so that our children don't mess up their educations," Cristina reminds her. "Priorities, Mer."
Walking through a crowded subway platform, Rob doesn't glance at the caller display on his phone, he just answers as he swerves to avoid an arguing couple.
"Yeah."
"Hello Rob," Cristina says.
Rob stops cold. He suddenly feels alone and exposed, while standing in a crowd. "Um, hello."
"We don't have a lot of time, so listen up," she says. "Are you still in love with Mallory?"
"Of course," Rob says hoarsely. "But she—"
"Don't 'but she-' me. Is it absolutely essential to you that your sister be a bridesmaid?"
"JoJo really wants to be one," Rob says. "I don't want her to be unhappy."
"You're putting your sister's happiness before your wife's?"
"Good point."
"And what is this about where you're going to medical school?"
He sighs. "I prefer UCLA but she wants me to go to Dartmouth because it's Ivy League and close to her sister."
"There's nothing wrong with Ivy League," Cristina notes. "But UCLA is a good school and is closer to Seattle. Look, being in a relationship requires some compromise. Do you think you can work things out with JoJo so that Mallory will be more flexible on UCLA? She's in love with you. Don't throw that away."
"She just threw me out of the apartment," he points out.
"Because you two have to compromise. Why can't JoJo be one of your attendants? Or an overgrown flower girl?"
Rob swallows. "I asked her to be one of my attendants but she didn't like that. She's always dreamed of being my maid of honor, actually. I'm really trying to make them both happy."
"What about Best Man? Woman?"
Rob furrows his brow. "That … might work. Jonah has been trying to get out of giving the Best Man speech."
"Listen, Rob." Cristina breathes in deeply. "I get Mallory. She's like me. Only nicer. And she cooks."
"Uh huh," Rob says.
"So you need to respect her wishes for her wedding and find a way to include JoJo. That will show her that you can compromise. And then she will want to compromise. Do you think you can do that?
"I think I can." Rob starts climbing stairs towards the chilly evening air.
"Now here's the situation," Cristina continues. "Dr Hunt gets out of surgery in approximately two hours. So you have two options. Option number one is to find Mallory, make up with her, and get her to call her father and let her know everything is okay. In two hours."
Rob stands still and swallows nervously.
Cristina's voice drops. "Option number two is to get a head start and leave Paris. Because if you two haven't made things right in two hours and Mallory still wants to drop out of school, Dr Hunt will be going straight to the airport. And do you know why he'll be going to the airport?"
"To kick my ass?" Rob weakly smiles.
"Not quite," Cristina says, slowly and deliberately. "Both of us will be on the plane and we willfind you. Dr Hunt's job will be to hold you down while I hurt you, the way that you hurt my daughter. I will bring a scalpel, and I will not use anesthetic. Got that?"
"I'm going back to the apartment," Rob says, turning around and moving towards the platform.
Mallory is furiously cleaning the small kitchen when the phone rings. She frowns to see the caller's name but answers. "Hi Auntie Meredith."
"Hi sweetie," Meredith says, cheerfully. "How are you?"
"Just awful," Mallory blurts out, sitting down. "I had a fight with Rob and—"
"I know," Meredith interrupts. "I get it. Rob can be very stubborn sometimes."
"Right!" Mallory beams. "I knew you'd understand. Mom yelled at me."
"Oh, I understand," Meredith says carefully. "Here's what you need to understand. Rob is like me. You can't tell him what to do all the time. It will just make him run or build eight foot thick emotional walls. You have to be careful about how you discuss things. Just because you managed to seduce him so quickly—"
"I did no such thing!" Mallory protests. "He wanted me just as much as I wanted him."
"I don't know the details, but I know you, Mallory Hunt, and I know you must have made the first move," Meredith shoots back. "You can be a very sweet girl but you are also Cristina Yang's daughter."
"Fine, I'm a scheming temptress," Mallory admits. "Why are you calling?"
"Rob is on his way back to your place after talking with your mother," Meredith informs her.
"He is?" Mallory grins delightedly, feeling a sudden surge of hope.
"He is. But you need to be careful, Mallory. Greet him with open arms and be willing to compromise, Mal. Gently guide him into coming to some sort of agreement. And for the love of God, don't be so stubborn yourself."
Mallory nibbles her bottom lip. "He's really coming back?"
"Yes. Now, you have two hours to work things out, and both of you have to contact your fathers and tell them everything is okay."
"Two hours?" Mallory gasps. "Why?"
"Because they're in surgery until then," Meredith says. "If Derek finds out that Rob wants to run away again and not go to medical school for another year, he's going to yell at Rob and then Rob will run away. And goddamn it, Mallory, Rob has it within him to be a brilliant doctor and he has to go to medical school in the fall. You are going to do everything in your charming power to make that happen. If he doesn't go to medical school now, he'll never go. Then he'll be a bum for the rest of his life and he will waste his gift. And I will be severely pissed off at you. Got it?"
"Got it," Mallory says meekly. "Rob has to go to medical school. Okay, Auntie Meredith."
"Good. Now go blow your nose and pull yourself together and make my son happy. You're a smart girl. Be smart."
"I will."
Meredith hangs up and shares a glance with Cristina. "I think I got through to Mallory."
"Good," Cristina sighs. "Can we hope those two idiots will work it out?"
"I think they can," her friend muses. "They're young and in love. That helps."
Cristina snorts. "You are such a romantic."
They look at each other for a long moment.
"Was this really about saving their educations?" Meredith asks with a little smile.
Cristina grins. "I think we might care about our children's happiness, too. A little."
"Just a bit."
As soon as she hears Rob's key in the lock, Mallory yanks open the door and flings herself into his arms.
"I'm sorry," she gasps between kisses.
"I'm sorry," he mumbles back, guiding her into the apartment and kicking the door shut behind him. He drops his backpack and lifts her onto the kitchen table, helping her pull off his jacket.
"Wait," he says. "We have to talk about this."
"Really?" She gets to work on the buttons of his shirt. "I think talking gets us into trouble."
"We don't have to talk a lot," he laughs. "Just … can we agree to get married and worry about everything else later? I'll find another job, and I'll try to make it a daytime one. I can ask JoJo to be my best man. Woman. That will make her feel more important."
"Okay," she grins, helping him pull off his shirt. "If you want UCLA, go to UCLA. They have a world class diabetes research center. They'd be smart to take you. And we'll be closer to our parents. And I'll marry you this summer even if you want to delay school a year, but your mother is going to kill me for that so please don't put it off. Are we made up now?"
"Yes," he gasps, kicking off his shoes. "We have to contact our parents now. Your mother threatened to hurt me. She told me how she'll use a scalpel on me if your father lets you drop out of school."
"I want you now," she pouts, moving her hands to his belt. "And I'm not dropping out of school."
"Mallory, I'm serious," he says, blue eyes wide. "Your mother scared me so much that I almost pissed myself. The sex isn't going to be good until I know I'm safe."
"Get out your phone!"
Post-surgery, Derek and Owen both check their phones outside of the scrub room.
Owen turns to Derek. "I have a voice mail from Mallory saying that your son is a stupid jerk and she wants to forget school and come home early."
"Huh," Derek replies. "I have an email saying that your daughter is controlling and stubborn and Rob thinks that Costa Rica would be an appropriate distance from her."
"Wait, there's more." Owen listens. "Okay, never mind. Everything is good. She thinks Rob is wonderful again, and I'm supposed to assure you and Meredith that he is definitely going to medical school this fall. Whatever medical school he chooses."
Derek nods and reads his next message. "Rob says not to worry, he's going to marry your bossy control freak, and please, make sure that Cristina doesn't get on a plane to dissect him."
The men look at each other.
"Do we want to know what that was about?" Owen half-smiles.
"Not at all," Derek says. "Coffee?"
"Sounds good."