B for Babies

21

Home sweet home, Meredith had never been so happy to walk through her front door before. All she wanted to do was hug her children and go to bed. Alex walked in behind her, bags on either arm; he set down their luggage down by the stairs and let out a sigh. "Some weekend, huh?" He said with a small chuckle. He didn't really know how they survived all of the bonding activities Maggie forced them into. It was a miracle that they made it home alive. If it wasn't for Meredith's quick thinking after lunch, they would still be there. Instead, she'd made an excuse about needing to rest before an early morning check up that nobody could dispute, so Alex jumped at the chance to drive home, get away from the madness. Neither one of them were entirely sure when the others were coming home, but they safely assumed they had a few more hours.

"Meredith!" Arizona exclaimed as she walked down the stairs. She hadn't expected them home so soon, but it was a pleasant surprise. "Zola's in the living room, we're waiting for our cookies to finish baking." She told the pair, pointing her thumb up the stairs, "The little ones are down for a nap, they were exhausted."

A part of Meredith knew that meant they'd be up late, but she also didn't care at this point. She was happy to be home, happy to be able to see her babies. "Zola! Mommy's home!" She called out, walking through to the living room to find her eldest child.

The little girl rushed halfway to meet her mother, her arms wrapped around Meredith's enlarged belly before she was kissing the home of her unborn sibling. "Did you miss us?" Meredith asked her, feeling all kinds of emotions, she missed her children, missed being at home with them where she belonged. Tears started to well in her eyes as she realise how much she had missed them, how much she really needed them around.

"Why are you crying?" Zola asked her, reaching out to take hold of Meredith's hand. Meredith shook her head and instinctively wiped the stray tears away. "I'm not crying," She assured her, walking over to the nearest chair to sit down on. Zola sat down beside her, her little fingers touching Meredith's belly again. "Did you miss mommy and Alex?" She asked her eldest, her own fingers moving to play with her daughter's hair, she didn't know where Arizona learnt how to style it that way, but it looked beautiful, she always looked so beautiful. Hot tears started to sting her eyes again, but Meredith didn't want to upset her daughter, she wiped them away with the back of her hand and listened to the faint sounds of Alex and Arizona talking in the hallway.

"I miss you," Zola told her, smirking because she left Alex out on purpose, trying to be funny. Meredith laughed softly and looked towards the opening of the room. "I bet he missed you though, he loves you very much, just like I do, maybe a little less because I'm the mommy, and mommies are meant to love their children the most out of anyone else."

Alex walked through the entryway, Arizona on his trail, she walked past the mother and daughter on her way through to the kitchen to check on her baking, it was almost ready. She was scared of burning them all, disappointing Zola. The whole weekend reminded her of how much she missed her own daughter, how much she loved being a mother and doing things like baking cookies for the hell of it. She watched as Alex sat down on Zola's other side, and it was then that she realised exactly what Alex meant when he said they were his family, even before the pregnancy Alex had been apart of Meredith's family and she knew exactly what that looked like now.

Alex's arm was draped over the back of the couch, his fingers playing with Meredith's hair as he listened to her telling Zola about their weekend. Arizona could hear the couple laugh at something together, the way they looked at each other. She had a hard time believing they'd made a baby together at first, but any doubts she once had were long gone by now.

The oven timer went off, Zola jumped off the couch and went running in to where Arizona was carefully taking the trays out, the cookies weren't burnt at all, they were perfect and Zola clapped her hands in excitement.

When Meredith and Alex turned back to face the living room, Alex filled in the space the young girl had left between them, he could smell her hair as she rest her head against his shoulder, it felt safe again, she felt like she was in the right place, where she belonged. Every bad thing that occurred over the weekend didn't matter to her any longer; this was what she needed, where she needed to be. The smell of freshly baked cookies, the sound of an excited little girl, and the thumping of Alex's heart she could feel against her arm. This was nice, this was better than nice to her.

"I wish this baby was yours." She whispered, eyes fluttering closed as she realised the magnitude of her words. She could physically feel the way Alex changed when he heard those words, words that were only meant for him, but had been overheard by the blonde who was on her way to offer them a cookie. Arizona didn't know what to do, she backed away slowly and turned her attention back to Zola.

Alex kissed the side of Meredith's face and let out a soft sigh between his lips. "It will be." He promised her, fingers finding her hand, squeezing her digits carefully. They both wanted this, they both needed this to work out. He had given up too much to back out of it now. He knew things were still messy and confusing with Jo, she had accepted that he'd moved on, but he still felt guilt for the way he'd told her about the baby, or how he hadn't. He knew he'd lost respect from people he worked with, but Meredith needed him, and a part of him needed her too. This was going to work for both of them, it just had to.