"Zola, no," Derek shook his head as he opened the door to the house.

"Dad, I-"

"No, Zo," he cut her off, "It's not gonna happen!"

"Why not!"

Meredith trailed behind her daughter. She wasn't used to watching the duo be at odds. It almost never happened.

"Dad, I am at the top of my class," Zola declared as she stormed into the kitchen. She placed both hands on the counter, gripping the edge as she stared him down from across it, "I work my ass off-"

"Zola Grey-"

"I am excellent and you would be lucky to have me as an intern at Grey Sloan," she argued, "Why won't you let me!"

"Because it's playing favorites-!"

"You let Lucas-!"

"Lucas is not my son and I didn't let him- she did!" he countered as he pointed to his wife. Meredith shrugged helplessly before he continued , "You are my daughter! You are Chief Grey's daughter! How do you think that's gonna look like to the other-"

"Oh please dad!" Zola rolled her eyes, "Everyone in that hospital is related one way or another!"

"She has a point," Meredith muttered.

"Meredith!"

"Thank you, Mom!" Zola said quickly, flashing a triumphant smile at her mother before turning back to her father. "You know everyone in that hospital is related to someone. You're not fooling anyone with the 'no favoritism' excuse!"

Derek sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he adjusted his dark-rimmed glasses, "I'm sorry, Zola, the answer is still no-"

Zola stared at him, her disbelief evident as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest. Her gaze darted to her mother, "Mom! Tell him you think I'm excellent! Tell him that I deserve a chance to compete with the hundreds of other applicants vying to be at Grey Sloan! Tell him I earned this!"

Meredith exhaled deeply, her shoulders slumping. She glanced at Derek, who looked just as tense, his arms crossed as he leaned against the counter, his lips pressed into a thin line

She had never been in the middle of a disagreement between the pair. There never was a need to. Even when she was getting her license, the father/daughter duo always found a way back to each other.

Zola had a strong relationship with both of them and she hardly- if ever- had been at odds with either of them.

Her sister, on the other hand, had always been at odds with her mother. And they often forced Derek to be the referee between the two. He always leaned on her side, even when he tried to reason with her in private, he was always Team Meredith. It was a loyalty she never took for granted, even when it left her daughters rolling their eyes. And now she owed him the same loyalty.

"I think that your dad has a point-"

"Mom?!"

"-but we haven't even started looking through any applications so-"

Zola groaned, slamming her hands on the counter before straightening up, "You two are impossible! Seriously, it's all I ever wanted- to be a neurosurgeon like dad- and now you're both standing in my- ugh!"

"We're not standing in your way, Zola!" Derek insisted, "There are excellent programs across the nation where you can-"

"But I don't want to!" Zola exclaimed, "I'm gonna go to bed. Why did I even come home, if all we're going to do is argue over this?"

As she stomped away to her childhood bedroom, Meredith released a deep breath, "She has a point Derek."

"Oh God, not you too," he muttered, rolling his eyes as he planted his hands on his hips.

"You did encourage her for years and now that she's-"

"It looks like favoritism," he insisted, "You don't think the other interns will give her hell? We always said we wouldn't play that card. We said they had to work for it."

"And she has!" Meredith countered, stepping closer to him. Her voice softened as she added, "She's just asking for a chance, Derek. She didn't ask you to just give her a spot; she asked when you'd start looking at applicants."

Derek sighed. Meredith was right. Zola had simply asked when programs began to interview and screen applicants. It snowballed into a fight over her not being allowed to apply to Grey Sloan despite its ranking in best surgical internship programs.

"Derek, I know it's hard for you not to see her as your little girl," Meredith sighed, "I know because it's hard for me too. But she is not that little girl you need to protect anymore. She grew up."

It was like a knife to the chest. A never ending wound that would get punctured over and over again.

"Okay, what is this really about?" Meredith sighed, "You're the rational parent out of the two, we made a deal! I can be the over worried rambling one and you get to be the rational one. But I can't figure you out, so what is wrong?"

Derek crossed his arms, "She's had this idealized version of what surgery is. She would come with me to work as a kid and every time she'd come, I'd have a good outcome."

Meredith listened intently.

"I would bring her and I'd pray that she wouldn't have to see me tell a family that the person they loved died on my table. And she never did. But now she's going to be an intern and," he sighed, "I don't want her to- I can't-"

"She knows what this job is," Meredith reached for his arm and squeezed it tightly before pulling him into a tight embrace, "She's seen us on days when we have good outcomes and bad outcomes. She's a smart girl, Derek."

Derek sighed again.

"We can't protect her or shield her no matter how much we want to." Meredith pulled away slightly before cupping his face in her lithe hands, "What we can do is remind her that the good outweighs the bad- because it does. We hurt for our patients' and their families but we know our intentions behind this job."

Meredith gently caressed his cheeks, "She's just asking for a chance to do the same."

"Look at you being the rational one," he gently scoffed.

"Please don't make me do it again, I can barely handle it," she muttered with an eye roll.

Zola stood in the foyer, dressed in a simple but elegant outfit, her hair styled perfectly. She was radiant, confident, and so grown-up that it made Derek's chest ache.

Her date, a polite boy named Ethan who Derek begrudgingly admitted wasn't entirely terrible, was waiting outside. Meredith had vetted him, of course. "He's sweet," she'd told Derek earlier, "and Zola likes him. Try to be nice."

Nice. Right.

Derek crossed his arms, leaning against the doorway as Zola adjusted the earrings Meredith had let her borrow.

"You're gonna tell me everything when you get home, right?" Meredith raised a brow teasingly.

"Mom!" Zola groaned, "It's just a movie."

"Mmhm," Meredith grinned, "Have fun, okay? And call me if you need a getaway car."

Zola groaned again, "Mom!"

"You're not really wearing that, are you?" he asked, his tone teasing but with a distinct edge of protectiveness.

Zola rolled her eyes. "Dad, come on. Mom already said I look great."

"She's biased," he muttered.

"Don't listen to him," Meredith rolled her eyes, "You do look great. Ready to go?"

"No," Derek grumbled.

"Dad!" Zola exclaimed, grabbing her purse. "You promised you wouldn't you wouldn't make a big deal out of this!."

"I'm not," Derek said, pushing off the doorway. "I'm just reminding you that you don't have to go. We could stay in, order pizza, watch a movie-"

"Dad."

"Derek!"

"I'm just saying," he muttered.

Zola sighed but stepped closer, her expression softening. "You know I'm always going to be your little girl, right?"

Derek swallowed hard, his heart crumbling as he looked at her. "You don't feel like my little girl right now."

Her face softened, and she leaned up to kiss his cheek. "I'll always love you the most, Daddy."

Derek blinked rapidly, clearing his throat as Meredith bit back a laugh in the background. "Yeah, well... you'd better. And you'd better be back by nine. Not a minute later."

Zola smiled, "Mom already said I can stay out until ten."

"I'm rescinding that."

"Too late!" she called as she slipped outside, the door closing behind her.

Derek stared after her, a mixture of pride and melancholy weighing on him. Meredith watched the helpless man before a giggle escaped her.

"What?" he scoffed, "Just wait until Bailey starts dating, you'll be the one pouting."

"She'll be okay," Meredith said, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"She's growing up too fast," he murmured, resting his chin on top of her head.

"I know," Meredith replied softly. "But she's still Zola. And she's going to come home, and you're still going to be her favorite person."

Derek walked out of the bedroom, he heard the quiet rumbling of the television on as he walked down to the kitchen.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Zola turned around. She was in her pajamas, head wrap, and had the control in her hands. She looked back at the television and continued to flip through the television gallery.

"Nope," she curtly answered, "You?"

"Your mother's snoring didn't let me sleep," he joked.

He could hear Zola stifle a giggle, "You've been married forever dad, you'd think you were used to it by now."

He was. In fact, he actually treasured it. It told him she was still breathing and not everyone understood that. And oftentimes he'd wake to her hand tucked into his own- reminding herself that there was still a pulse. Those little reminders that were taken for granted weren't so much by them.

He silently moved around the kitchen and pulled out two mugs.

"You know, when you were little and you couldn't sleep," he sighed, "you'd run to the bedroom and pull me out of bed and force me-"

"To lay with me until I fell asleep," she finished for him, "I remember, we'd count the stars on the ceiling. You tell that story every single time you feel bad about something."

It was one of his most treasured memories.

She turned to the kitchen and watched him as he moved around it, "What are you doing?"

"Making hot chocolate," he said simply, placing the old purple mug she'd loved as a teen on the counter.

Zola raised a brow. "You're bribing me."

Derek chuckled. She watched him as he continued his task quietly. Coming home was…special. The Grey-Shepherds had been in Boston for the better half of the last decade only for the parents to return to their dream home when Ellis had left for college. Bailey had attended Stanford and Ellis had elected to stay at Harvard with the promise of visiting her parents as often as possible.

It'd been bittersweet. But the once Little Grey Shepherds knew that their parents always had unfinished business in Seattle. And they had made a very difficult decision the day they decided to move to Boston- for Zola.

It didn't escape her that everyone had made a sacrifice. But she also was aware that it was something they all needed. A new start. A new beginning.

And truly, it had been the best thing they could've done for their family.

Years later, she'd spent her undergraduate years at Dartmouth and had transferred to Columbia Medical School after. She was following in her parents footsteps. She curated a careful well thought out plan for her future. And yet here he was standing in the middle of it.

"Why Grey Sloan?" Derek placed two mugs on the counter, "Johns Hopkins is also a good option."

"You know most parents are thrilled their kids are coming home after years away at school?" Zola scoffed, "You seem to be pushing me away."

"Columbia also has an excellent residency-"

"So does Grey Sloan!" she retorted, "Dad what is your issue? Is it because I'm the daughter of the chief and the head of the board?"

He couldn't dare to look up to her. He continued turning about the kitchen until a thought struck her.

She gasped, "Oh my God, Aunt Amy was right! You just don't want to-"

"Your Aunt Amy doesn't know what she's talking about," he defended himself as he walked towards her, "That's not it and you know it."

Zola exhaled loudly, "It's the 'I'm your kid thing' isn't it?"

Derek pressed his lips together as he made his way to sit next to her. He offered her a purple mug- the same one she'd use at home when she was a teenager. Zola looked down at it and fidgeted with the handle

"I'm the good kid, remember? I know about Ellis dropping school to backpack across Europe and about Bailey bombing his first MCAT. I'm the good kid."

"She's not dropping school. She's going after she graduates," Derek chuckled, "And just because Bailey and Ellis aren't as… academically driven as you, it doesn't make them the bad kids."

Zola rolled her eyes.

"Your mom and I had one goal when we raised you," he turned to her, "We wanted to raise good kids. Kind, empathetic, kids who cared about others. The three of you couldn't be any more different but you're all good. I think we did a hell of a job with the three of you."

"Even if Ellis-?"

"Even if Ellis has decided to take off to Europe," he closed his eyes and shook his head, "Your mom is still mad about it and still pissed at me for supposedly encouraging it."

"Spoken like someone who's been spoiling Ellis since birth," she teased.

"Now you sound like your mother," he chuckled, "Besides she's finishing off this year before she leaves."

"Whatever you say, Dad," Zola chuckled.

Derek sighed, "She's worried. Your mama worries about the three of you. She calls Bailey so often because she's scared he's gonna pull away after the whole MCAT thing. And she's worried about you, too. She's afraid your anxiety might come back, that you'll feel lonely out there. You coming home for the weekend helps."

"So do you," Zola whispered knowingly, nudging him, "You worry too, don't you."

"Ever since you were little, everything came easy to you," Derek looked at her, his face serious now, "School, sports, dance, whatever you wanted to do, you set your mind to it and you did it. With flying colors."

"You didn't let anything stop you. And when people doubted you, you put that little foot of yours down, stared them right into their face, and did it anyway."

Zola fiddled with the mug in her hands, "So then is it because you think I don't have what it takes?"

"You have what it takes, Zo," Derek shook his head, "You're your mother's daughter through and through."

"And my father's," she turned to him with a smile.

"Hell yeah, you are," he nudged with a smirk, "I just- it's hard for me Zo. It's hard for me to know that you're all grown up, and that I'll have to let you hurt when you make mistakes. I know that big heart of yours."

"I get that from you and mom. You taught me to care and taught me that being a surgeon is about being humble enough to know that a life is in your hands and if their loss doesn't hurt you that your not cut out for this. You taught me that," Zola leaned into him, her voice quieter. "I'm not a little girl anymore, Dad."

Derek frowned slightly, his brows drawing together, "You're always gonna be my little girl. A little grown up, and with more responsibilities and accomplishments on her plate but you will always be my little girl."

Zola sniffed, her eyes misty, and set the mug down on the coffee table before wrapping her arms around him. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he hugged her tightly, pressing a kiss to her hair.

"It's selfish, I know it is," he admitted with a sigh, "but-"

"But what?"

Zola tilted her head up to look at him, but she stayed in his arms, leaning into the comfort of the embrace.

"I used to worry about you scraping your knees, Zola," he sighed, "About you wanting a car. I used to worry about you dating. And now you're on your own in the east coast just ...Look at you now."

"I'd make a good intern, dad," she muttered, "I'm top of my class both in med and undergrad, I was valedictorian, I almost sk-"

"Skipped a grade, I know I was at the parent conferences, remember?" he chuckled.

And the graduations. The birthday parties. The panic attacks. The heartbreaks. He was there for all of it. He retired early enough to squeeze in as much time as possible before she flew far from home.

He watched her grow up from the moment he first held her to the moment she packed her suitcase and left for college.

That little brilliant girl had grown up. But if he willed her enough, the little girl inside her would sometimes come out.

Zola walked to the front of the classroom. She set up her poster and looked to the back. She searched and searched until they landed on one person.

Derek smiled when she locked eyes with him. I'm here, he wanted to shout. The door next to him opened slowly. He turned and grinned softly as his wife entered quietly. She shut the door behind her and stood slightly in front of him as he leaned against the wall.

"Did I miss it?" she whispered.

Derek shook his head and then nodded to the front, "You're right on time, she's about to start."

"I'm Zola Grey-Shepherd and this is my family tree. My mom and my dad are Dr. Meredith Grey and Dr. Derek Shepherd. They're surgeons. They adopted me before I turned one after a medical program that my Uncle Alex- Dr. Alex Karev helped start bringing me to the hospital for a surgery all the way from Malawi," Zola briefly glanced to the back, "My dad was my doctor. He likes to say that even though he was the doctor, I was the one to cure him and my mom."

Meredith turned to him with a bright smile and misty eyes.

"My mom says it's corny but she says he's right."

The room laughed.

"What are you two doing out here?" Meredith's sleepy voice broke the quiet, her blanket draped over her shoulders as she trudged toward them. "You come home for a week, and you're already stealing your dad back?"

She settled onto the couch beside Derek, who opened his arm to pull her close. Now he had one of his girls on each side—a quiet moment of peace he didn't take for granted.

The once small family of three had grown into a family of five, though tonight, it felt a little quieter without the other two Little Grey Shepherds home. Bailey and Ellis were off living their own lives in California and Massachusetts, but they'd fly home soon enough to make the house feel full again.

"You know you can admit it," Zola yawned, "I won't tell."

"Admit what?" Meredith asked.

"That I'm the favorite of the three," Zola grinned as she pulled away to reach for her mug of hot chocolate

Both parents burst into laughter, shaking their heads.

A/N: Grey's uploaded a video with these three on the clock app and I wanted to cry. I love writing Derek as a dad because I know we're never gonna see that on the show and that hurts. But that doesn't mean that I don't care about Mer. She'll get her moment, trust me.

This series is only four chapters. Each chapter is dedicated to a one-shot focusing on each little Grey Shepherd. And there's a fourth one too. It's also set in my AU world Everything Has Changed/ Bigger Than/ Whole

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