Dreams On Fire

Remember When

Halloween came too soon, and Meredith found herself with Zola in her bedroom, getting her dressed for trick or treating. This year she had wanted to be Princess Tiana, so Meredith had obliged and Carolyn had made her the most elaborate Tiana costume she had ever seen. She was currently sitting on her bed, pulling and teasing Zola's hair into a bun that would make her look like the princess from the Disney movie. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Meredith had deemed her daughter's hair okay, and Zola rushed to her closet to grab her closet. "Help me mommy!" she said, grinning from ear to ear. Meredith couldn't help but match her daughter's smile. "First we have to put on a shirt, because it's kind of cold outside, okay?" she told her, tugging the cream colored shirt over her head, avoiding the bun she had just perfected. Thankfully the shirt matched the costume and Zola didn't complain. There was so much tulle underneath the skirt of the dress to make it poof out, and Meredith watched her daughter twirl. "Mommy I'm a princess!" she squealed, as Meredith put the bow on her bun, and handed her the elbow length gloves that went over her shirt with ease. "Come here baby girl," she smiled, lifting her into her lap. She could barely sit there anymore, what with Meredith's baby bump growing. She was nearly 6 months at this point and growing steadily. Once Zola was on her lap, she put on shiny black patent leather Mary jams, before letting her daughter preen at herself in the mirror on the back of her bedroom door. "Grandma made me pretty!" she laughed, touching her hair. "Oh Zozo, you're always pretty," she smiled, bending over and pressing kisses all over his face. "Go show daddy how pretty you look," she smiled, before heading to her own bedroom and getting herself dressed. She pulled a loose black top on over her tight tank top, shedding leggings for a pair of jeans and slipping her feet into boots. They were taking the kids over to Alex's house, as were Arizona and Callie with Sofia, to go trick or treating once again, since they live in the middle of nowhere and had no neighbors.

Heading out of the main room, she encountered Derek with little Bailey, dressed as a storm trooper from Star Wars. "Oh, don't you look both adorable and intimidating?" she laughed, swooping down and picking him up, laughing as he shrieked from laughter. "Oh my little Bailey-boo," she smiled, peppering him with kisses as she reached for Derek's hand and giving it a tight squeeze. This, right now, was everything she had ever wanted but didn't know she wanted. She put Bailey down and let him play with his toys, Zola still spinning around but in front of another mirror. She reached for Derek again and he took her in his arms, holding her tight, hands on her belly. She reached up, her hand on his cheek, smiling warmly as she pressed a kiss to his lips. "I love you," she whispered, content to stay in his arms just like. "I love you too," he grinned, kissing her back as they watched their kids do their thing, getting hyped up for running house to house and eating sweat things. "You know, when I first met you, I never thought about having kids. And now we have almost three and I can't thing of anything different," she grinned, turning around and looking up at him as her green eyes sparkled in the living room lights. He looked down at her and laughed. "I on the other hand only knew it was a matter of time before I got you to agree to the kids part," he teased her, lips barely touching hers, before the bossy voice of their five year old sounded in the room. "Mommy! Daddy! I want to go to Uncle Alex's and get some candy," Zola demanded, and Meredith and Derek broke apart, laughing. "Apparently we have a bossy daughter," Meredith teased him, grabbing her coat and a scarf, before grabbing her phone and keys. "Come on Zola, you're right, we should be leaving," she smiled, pulling open the front door and unlocking the car, getting her into her car seat somehow what with all the tulle underneath her dress. Derek was in charge of getting Bailey into his car seat, so she slipped into the passenger seat.

Soon enough they were at Alex's house, or rather the house Meredith grew up in, and Zola had started to grow up in. Meredith let the kids out of their car seats and they ran to the front door, where Alex let them in. Meredith and Derek took longer, holding hands as they made their way to the door, letting themselves in. The house looked completely different from when they lived in it but she liked what Alex had done with it. Alex and Jo jumped up from the couch to greet the Shepherd family. Zola had already rushed over to Sofia and they were in Disney Princess land; Sofia was dressed as Princess Belle and the girls were having fun with their dresses. Callie and Arizona came out of the kitchen, the two of them with beers, smiling and as happy as can be. Meredith had been happy to hear that the two of them had decided to try again a few months ago, and they seemed to be happy. "Hey guys," Meredith smiled, all of the adults flopping down in chairs or on the couch. Everyone was drinking except for Meredith and Jo, and Meredith couldn't help but wonder if the fourth year resident was pregnant. It was possible; plus Alex loved kids. It would be great for them to have another kid in the community of doctors. "So guys are we actually taking the kids out?" Callie laughed, finishing her beer and setting the empty bottle on the table. The adults laughed and stood up, Meredith with help from Derek, and gathered their kids, Alex grabbing Bailey by his middle and tossing him in the air. "Uncle Alex and Aunt Jo are going to give out the candy, but we'll see all of you in a little bit," he said, kissing Bailey on the forehead before handing him to Derek.