Highway to Hell

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Meredith and Derek were waiting anxiously at their home. PT earlier that day exhausted Meredith, but she was too anxious and nervous to take a nap before Janet would bring Zola home.

"Hey. It'll be alright." Derek said, noting her tap her fingers up and down. "What if they change their mind or something?" She asked.

"They won't. We're her parents." Derek said softly as the doorbell rang.

He stood up and quickly wheeled Meredith to the door and opened it.

"Meredith, Derek, hi!" Janet exclaimed, holding Zola in her arms.

"Hey! Come on in!" Derek said with a smile.

Janet and Zola walked in and followed Meredith to the kitchen. "Want to hold her?" Janet asked. Derek nodded and smiled, grabbing the baby from her arms.

Zola looked up to Derek with wide eyes and smiled, like she knew who he was. Derek kissed Zola's forehead and held the baby close.

"How are you doing Meredith?" Janet asked. "I'm okay." Meredith replied as she made eye contact with Zola.

"Ma!" Zola babbled happily wiggling in Derek's arms. Meredith smiled and looked at Derek. "She knows who you are." He said.

Derek placed Zola into Meredith's lap and she wrapped her arms around the baby. "Ma!" Zola squealed again, grabbing Meredith's cheeks.

"Hi Zo." Meredith whispered. Zola giggled and buried her head into Meredith's chest.

"So we have full custody, right?" Derek asked, watching his girls, unable to get rid of the smile on his face.

"She's all yours. She is officially Zola Grey Shepherd." Janet said warmly. "She remembered you guys. Didn't stop babbling about you." She said.

"We missed her so much." Meredith admitted. "I'm sorry we had to take her away, it was just for precaution. Anyways, I should get going." Janet said.

"It was really nice working with you guys and I wish you all the best of luck."

•••

After Janet left, the new family of three made their way over to the couch. Derek watched Meredith wheel over to the couch with Zola on her lap and watched her frown when she couldn't transfer and hold their baby at the same time.

"I got her." Derek said, lifting Zola up gently and sitting on the couch. Meredith sighed and transferred to the couch.

"It'll get easier." Derek promised. "I know." She replied.

"She remembers us, Derek." Meredith said with a big smile. "She did. Our daughter." Derek replied with a happy sigh.

"Is your mom coming soon?" She asked. "She should be back soon. We should tell karev and Yang." Derek answered. "Call them?" Meredith suggested.

Derek nodded and took out his phone, calling Alex and Cristina on FaceTime. "Hey! What's up?" Cristina asked.

"We have a surprise." Meredith said softly, panning the video to Zola. "You got her back? Full custody?" Alex asked, a relieved smile creeping up on his face.

"We got her back. Full custody." Derek confirmed. "What's going on over here? This isn't social hour." They heard Bailey snap.

"Look." Cristina said, holding the phone in front of her. "She's back permanently? I told you Grey!" Bailey exclaimed with a proud smile.

"Congratulations you guys. We'll have to come visit soon." Bailey said. "For sure. Maybe we can bring her to the baseball game." Meredith said with a wink.

"You're coming?" Cristina asked with a smile. "Yeah. I can keep score or something." She replied.

"Looking forward to it. We gotta get back to work, but we'll see you guys around." Alex said. "Bye guys."

•••

"I'm back!" Carolyn exclaimed as she entered the home.

"Hey." Derek and Meredith said nonchalantly, holding Zola in his arms.

Carolyn gasped at the beautiful baby girl. "Mom, this is Zola, our daughter. Zo, this is my mama, your grandma." Derek said softly.

Carolyn stepped forward and the little girl grabbed her finger. "She's beautiful." She whispered.

"Oh, my baby boy has a daughter." Carolyn said, tears in her eyes. Zola reached out to Carolyn and the woman held the baby close.

"Hi Zola. I'm your grandma." She cooed. Zola giggled and pinched Carolyn's nose.

"Want to go play?" Meredith asked softly. Zola nodded and the 4 went to the living room and sat on the ground, Meredith in her chair.

"Can you help me sit on the ground? Just propped up against the couch?" Meredith asked. Derek nodded and lifted Meredith up, putting her against the couch, fixing her legs that were sitting lifelessly.

The 3 adults held toys in front of Zola and watched as she tried to crawl around, a big smile plastered on to her face.

"She's perfect." Derek said. "She is." She agreed.

"She's also sleepy." Meredith said as Zola climbed onto Meredith's lap. "We should get her to bed." Derek said quietly.

"Wait, before you go we need the first family picture. I'll tell the first and your dad Derek." Carolyn stopped.

Derek crawled over to his wife and daughter and wrapped his arms around them and smiled, as did Meredith. Holding their baby girl was like holding gold. There was nothing like the feeling.

"You guys are a gorgeous little family." Carolyn said softly.

•••

Derek and Meredith got Zola to sleep and went back to the kitchen, where Carolyn was nursing a cup of tea.

"I'm so happy for you both." She said. "Thank you." The two of them replied.

"Well, I'm off to bed. You two ought to be as well. That baby girl will keep you on your toes." Carolyn said with a warm smile, standing up and kissing them both on the forehead before walking off to bed.

Derek and Meredith decided to head to bed per Carolyn's suggestion, and climbed under the covers. "We have a daughter." Meredith said into his chest. "We have a daughter." Derek replied. And nothing else mattered at this time. Not that Meredith was paralyzed, nothing.

They started their family today.

Hey guys! We hope you all enjoyed this chapter and hope your doing well. As always, go follow _Ktje_