Different Story | Grey's Anatomy

• Chapter 2: Viva la Vida •

Meredith slowly opened her eyes again early in the morning. She was just slightly sleep deprived; her eyes were heavy and burning, her throat was sore, but as a surgeon, she was used to it. Derek was no longer present in their bedroom; she realized that when she turned on her side, but the bed was empty.

She yawned and crawled out of their bed, stretching her arms in front of herself, ready to start a new day. She hadn't let go of yesterday's thoughts yet, nor she wanted to; she promised herself that she will make a difference.

She walked towards Zola's nursery in order to wake her, but to her surprise, Zola was not in her crib anymore. Meredith slightly scartched her scalp and went down the stairs towards the living room. The TV was turned on, playing a cute, happy tune from a cartoon in the background. Once she entered the dining area, she immediately spotted Zola, giggling and sitting in her highchair.

"Good morning, sweetie," she planted a kiss on her soft cheek. Meredith quickly noticed the mess her husband and her daughter have made. She looked at him while he was trying to make Zola to open her mouth.

"She was crying and you were still sleeping," he tried to explain himself. "I didn't have the heart to wake you up. You were so peaceful and... Not cranky."

"I am never cranky," she said while looking at the floor, covered with orange, chunky, carrot flavored baby food. Rolling her eyes, she picked up a clean napkin from the table and wiped Zola's sticky hands. "I appreciate your gesture, Derek, but why did you have to make such a mess?"

At first she didn't think any of it, but she definitely could hear the cranky in her annoyed voice.

"She never stops moving around," Derek whispered, before he kissed his wife. She slightly smiled and watched him pick up his jacket. "I have to go now; I have a surgery scheduled at eight."

"It's a beautiful day, right?" Meredith asked while looking at her husband.

"It's a beautiful day to save lives," he replied with an expected answer and waved at their daughter, who already began playing with her baby food once again. When Meredith noticed that, Zola's hands were already completely orange.

"Zola!"

"Enjoy your day off," Derek laughed before he walked out of the door, in order to get to work on time. Meredith could hear the car engine starting and the car pulling off their driveway. She looked back at Zola, who was smiling, with her curious brown eyes wide open, while making a mess with her tiny hands.

"Sweetie, what have you done?" Meredith said, but did not expect an actual answer from a 10 month old little girl. "Mama needs to clean this up now! Oh, what a mess."

She grabbed a few napkins and began wiping the sticky food off the floor, then the highchair and remembered to place the jar of baby food far away from the curious girl's reach. The little human was already reaching out in order to grab the jar, but she was too far from her toy. Utterly disappointed, Zola began whining.

"No, no, no, shhh! Come here," Meredith quickly responded and picked her daughter up from the highchair. She gently rocked her in her arms and continued to do so, until she had stopped crying.

Meredith gently pressed Zola's little head against her chest and walked around the kitchen, trying to comfort her. Once the sobbing stopped, Zola began playing with Meredith's blonde hair.

"Let's get you changed into clean clothes, yeah?" she smiled at her daughter, who smiled back and clapped her tiny hands joyfully. Meredith took her upstairs into the nursery, changed her diaper and picked a clean yellow onesie from the wardrobe. With a slight struggle, she managed to undress the kicking baby and then quickly put the clean piece of clothing on.

"Look at you, little miss Zola! You look like a real fashion model now!"

Zola was smiling and Meredith held her close to her. She did not want to let her little baby go; the happiness and joy of holding her were still surreal. She and Derek almost lost her; it seemed as if the adoption was not possible, but in the end, everything turned out the way it was supposed to. And for that, she was immensely greatful.

For her day off, Meredith had planned to go shopping; she had to buy some groceries and diapers, but she also wanted to take Zola to the park and spend some quality time with her little daughter. As a surgeon, spending time with her daughter is a must.

She placed Zola in her carseat and put the seatbelt on; she checked it twice, just to make sure she did not mess something up. In a few minutes, she pulled out of her driveway and continued driving down the almost empty road. She turned right at the first exit and continued the route to the mall.

Once they reached the parking lot in front of the mall, Meredith was trying her hardest to find an empty spot.

"Jeez, it's nine in the morning," Meredith sighed and leaned forward, trying to see past the car driving in front of her. "Why are there so many people here?"

A car honked from behind her.

"I can't fly past someone, you idiot!"

After spending five minutes looking for a free spot, Meredith finally managed to find one which was actually quite distanced from the entrance. After stepping out of the vehicle, she took the stroller out of the trunk and placed Zola in it. She gave her daughter a giraffe, which was her favourite toy; the baby held it close to her chest, holding onto the neck of the stuffed animal and giggled.

"You are the most adorable human being, Zozo," Meredith said while closing the car door. "Now, we have to walk to the entrance... At least we are going to stretch our feet, right?"

Navigating a stroller in a parking lot was a challenge, there were still a lot of cars driving past them and the asphalt was quite bumpy. Somehow, after almost five minutes, Meredith finally reached the entrance, with baby Zola still cheerfully giggling in the stroller.

"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" Meredith mumbled. "Mommy... Not so much."

Pushing the stroller in front of her, Meredith walked through the entrance and immediately noticed a group of people standing in line in front of the ATM. She sighed.

"Great. The one day I decide to go shopping, the whole city of Seattle decides to go shopping, too."

Navigating through the crowded place, she was stopping at random shelves, picking out food and things for Zola, such as diapers, pacifiers and even a few new onesies. There was this one with a cute bunny on it and it was made out of a really soft material, which would keep the baby warm during the cold days.

After an hour spent in the mall, Meredith took Zola to a nearby park, to feed the ducks and other animals; also to get some fresh air and enjoy the nature around them. As Zola fell asleep in the stroller and Meredith was sitting on a bench right next to the pond, she closed her eyes and thought.

And imagined.

It's as simple as that. To love a person, to take care of a person and not put yourself first. Perhaps, it is about making someone elses needs your priority, to cherish a smile so simple and innocent. To understand how important you are, to know where you belong. And we all do. We all belong.

Be my mirror, my soul and shield,
my missionaries in a foreign feild.