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“Good morning, Dr. Grey!” The blonde intern greeted her in an extra chirpy way.
“Good morning, Heather.” Meredith narrowed her eyes at her ever present smile, but began rounds without further questions.
“Patient on 2114 is our first case, a routine appy.” Heather announced as they walked through the hallways and to the room, and she began presenting.
“Carrie Andrews, 17, here for an appendectomy after passing out at school.” The brunette patient winced, her cheeks flushing at the remark.
“That was embarrassing.” Carrie covered her face with her hand.
“There’s nothing embarrassing about it,” Meredith assured as she stepped up to the bed. “Do you mind if I take a look?”
After the patients go ahead, she palmed the abdomen and told Brooks to schedule an OR stat, walking to the next patient room.
“Dr. Grey!” The intern called after her in a hurried voice.
“Yes?” Meredith turned her head around, but didn’t slow her pace to the patient’s room.
“You forgot the chart.” She pointed to the blue folder in her hand, waving it towards her.
“I didn’t forget anything. I trust that if there was something relevant enough for the case, you would’ve told me by now.”
That was not entirely true. Meredith always double checked the charts before going in the OR, but the morning had barely started and she wasn’t feeling like indulging on her intern’s weird behaviors.
“I think you’ll want to read this one.” The intern all but pushed the chart into her hands and ran away to schedule the OR, leaving Meredith behind to protest to herself.
“Hey.” She huffed, still looking at the direction the intern took. “What is wrong with these people?” Meredith resumed her walking and opened the chart to exam what the fuss was all about.
She frowned when she noticed a small envelope attached to the top of the chart, a red glittery heart on the front. Stopping on her tracks, Meredith leaned against a nurse’s station and opened the envelope with a suspicious look on her face.
A small card was the only thing inside, it read:
Happy Valentine’s Day!
if you want a sweet treat, look where you’d get a snack to eat.
- AM
The cursive of Addison’s handwriting made her smile and check her watch. She still had 15 minutes before the OR was ready, so she took a turn to the nearest vending machine, hoping that would be the one.
Typically, Meredith wouldn’t care about the whole Valentine’s Day thing. Addison could simply give her a kiss and cuddle her for the night, but the amount of time and preparation the card and idea appeared to take made a shiver of excitement go down her spine.
She reached the vending machine and was just starting to wonder what she should get that would contain her next clue when she noticed it was open, a guy next to it with what looked like tools to fix it.
“Hey, Dr. Grey!” The stranger greeted her. “I believe this is for you.” He handed her a pack of her favorite cookies with another envelope attached to it.
“Thanks!” She smiled brightly at him, her mood suddenly lifted by Addison’s gesture and the anticipation of the scavenger hunt.
“Have a nice day.” He called after her as she resumed her walk to the scrub room.
She opened the similar envelope and took the card out for the next instruction.
Valentine’s Day colors are red and pink, your next clue will be found by the sink.
- AM
She looked around but didn’t see anything at first, until she noticed a small sized stuffed dog sitting by the masks on the table by the sink. A smile tugged at her lips when she recognized the dog looked exactly like Doc. Her suspicions were confirmed when she spotted the tiny collar around its neck. Another envelope sat on the dog’s legs.
Valentine’s Day is here!
hurry, the next clue may be frozen, I fear.
- AM
“My next clue may be frozen?” Meredith re-read the card twice to be sure. “What does she mean? Like the morgue?”
Meredith ruminated the clue over and over in her head during surgery, finally giving up and asking the eerily quiet intern across the patient from her.
“What do you think she meant with ‘your next clue may be frozen’?” Meredith asked in a casual tone while she removed the appendix, trying to coax the intern to tell her.
“I can’t say anything.” Brooks kept her eyes down and focused on suction like it was the most important task she had been given in her life.
“Come on, Brooks. I’m literally going to the morgue after this and I’m pretty sure that’s not what Addison means, she’s too romantic for that.”
“Sorry, Dr. Grey. You may be Medusa but she’s Sat-“ Meredith cut her with a look that stopped her mid sentence. “The ruler of all that is evil.” She corrected herself. “You’re smart, Dr. Grey. You’ll figure it out by 3.”
“What do you mean by 3?”
The intern gave her a look that told her that was as far as she was going to get with this conversation, so Meredith focused on finishing the surgery smoothly so she could look as soon as she was done.
After closing and scrubbing out, she got Doc - the stuffed version - and put him on the same lab coat pocket she was keeping her clues and cookies.
She was making her way to the morgue - you know, just to be sure - when she bumped into Lexie.
“Ouch!” The younger doctor winced.
“Sorry!” Meredith looked up, only then realizing it was her sister she collided with.
“Wait, you too?” Lexie asked with her gaze fixated somewhere on Meredith’s lab coat.
“Me too what?” She checked herself out without understanding.
“The dog.” Lexie pointed out and lifted her own lab coat for Meredith to see. “I got a cat, one exactly like the one I had when I was a kid. Buttercup.” Lexie explained and understanding dawned on Meredith.
“Is Mark making you walk around on a scavenger hunt too?” Meredith noticed the card between Lexie’s fingers on the hand she wasn’t holding the chart.
“Yes! Addison?” Lexie tilted her head in question.
“Yep.” Meredith confirmed.
“Ok, so maybe we can figure this out together.” They agreed and walked to the nearest conference room.
Meanwhile, Mark and Addison watched from afar, a smile playing in both of their lips.
“She looks so hot when she’s focused.” He said without looking at Addison, typical Mark comment.
“Yeah, we really hit the jackpot with these two.” Addison hummed to herself, looking at Meredith entering the conference room.
“They got the brains, they got the looks, they got it all.”
“We got it all.” Addison corrected and bumped her fist into Mark’s, both quickly scattering when they noticed the Grey sisters leaving the conference room.
Inside the conference room, the Grey sisters took their cards out, realizing they were all different, except for the last one.
“The next clue may be frozen… what’s that supposed to mean?” Lexie frowned and Meredith sighed.
“I don’t know. I was gonna make my way down to the morgue, but my intern said I was gonna figure it out by 3.”
“What’s at 3?” Lexie questioned.
“I have no idea.” Meredith released a frustrated sigh.
“Oh, wait!” Lexie exclaimed and Meredith could practically see the lightbulb over her head. “I’m scrubbing in on Teddy’s cryoablation surgery this afternoon. It’s at 3pm.”
“How would I know that?” Meredith asked confused.
“I don’t know, let’s check the board.” They gathered the envelopes and made their way to the board, where Lexie’s name was up for the cryoablation, next to Teddy’s and Richard’s.
“The patient needs a cryoablation and a collie, so that’s probably why you’re gonna be there too.” Lexie mused.
Meredith didn’t fully understand why her sister thought that when her name wasn’t on the board. “But-“ she began saying, until Richard stepped up to them with the utmost nonchalant look on his face.
“Grey, I need you to take my collie at 3pm today.” He asked over a chart, without looking at the sisters.
“I think I have a surgery at the same time.” Meredith decided to play to see his reaction.
Richard all but shrugged her off and looked up at the board. “No, you don’t. I checked. Thank you for understanding.” He erased his name from the section and added Meredith’s next to Lexie’s.
“I can’t believe she put Richard up to this.” Meredith laughed when the chief walked out still without meeting her eyes.
“He wasn’t subtle at all.” Lexie agreed with a laugh of her own.
They headed to the scrub room together and walked in the OR to meet Teddy, who had a happy glint in her eyes.
Her tone, though, gave nothing away.
By the end of the procedure, she turned her attention to Lexie. “Little Grey, could you start the cryo machine, please?” She asked without taking her eyes of the monitor.
Lexie nodded and went over to the machine, noticing the familiar envelope with the blue heart taped to it. “Bokhee, could you tape that to my pager, please?” The brunette asked with a giddy smile Meredith knew was hidden behind the mask.
After Teddy’s part was done, Lexie scrubbed out to look for her next clue, but the cardio surgeon stayed put.
“Do you mind if I watch? I wanna keep an eye on the patient and it’s been a while since I last saw a general surgery.”
“Of course.” Meredith gave her a small smile and resumed what she was doing.
Around 45 minutes into the surgery, Meredith felt a pull to the gallery and looked up to find a certain redhead looking back at her. Addison smiled radiantly and the gallery looked bathed in sunlight, though Meredith was sure of the rain pouring outside.
When she looked back to the body cavity she was supposed to be concentrating on, she noticed a clamp extended towards her, holding another one of Addison’s envelopes. Behind it was a smiling Teddy, who looked just as excited about this whole game as Meredith felt.
“She put you up to this too?” Meredith chuckled and looked back to the gallery, but Addison was gone.
“She actually had the idea of making you look for it inside the patient, but decided against it since it would be unsanitary and unethical.” Teddy laughed and held the clamp out to the scrub nurse next to her, signaling she should put it alongside Meredith’s pager.
“Yeah, that probably would’ve costed us a law suit.” Meredith laughed along and they finished the surgery in easy banter, talking about Teddy’s plans for the night with Cristina.
Meredith was truly happy for them, happy her person had found someone worthy of her and of how in love she looked around the cardio surgeon.
When she scrubbed out, she ripped the sterile packaging her envelope was on and opened it to read her next clue.
As surgeons we know:
bones are white and blood is red
you’re next clue can be found on top of a bed.
- AM
“Grey, can you do a consult?” Callie appeared by her side like magic, making the blonde jump a little.
“Yeah, sure.” Meredith put the card back on her pocket with the others without a second thought and followed the ortho doctor down to the peds ward.
“What do we have here?” She asked Arizona when they entered a young boy’s room.
“Charlie Fields, 9, broken leg and possible splenectomy due to a bike accident.” Callie presented since there were only the three doctors in the room.
“I’m gonna examine you, okay, Charlie?” Meredith waited for his nod of confirmation and lifted his shirt to palm his abdomen. “Does this hurt?” He gave a negative shake of head, but whimpered when her fingers touched a tender spot above. “Okay.” She lowered his shirt and looked back to the couple of doctors next to her. “There’s definitely some tenderness but I want to get a CT to confirm.”
Arizona and Callie nodded and Meredith turned to leave and page her intern to schedule the exam, when the boy tugged at her coat. “Dr. Grey, you dropped this.”
She turned around to look at him and saw another one of Addison’s envelopes on his hand, a shy smile on his face.
“Thank you so much, Charlie.” She took the envelope from his hand and decided to hand him her cookies in return. “We’re gonna take care of you, okay?”
He nodded and she smiled at him, but Callie noticed the change in her expression when she walked out of the room and followed her.
“Grey.” The latina called as she frowned a little at the envelope. “You okay?”
“I thought it was really cute how you all got into this to help her, but a sick kid?” Meredith was having mixed feelings about the whole thing now.
“Hey, it’s not like this…” Callie began, afraid the blonde would flee before she had a chance to explain and let that ruin her friend’s plans for Valentine’s Day. “She was so excited telling Arizona about it and asking for her help, Charlie overheard it and asked to help. He said he wanted to help make the doctors who would fix him happy too.”
“Oh.” Meredith‘s cheeks flushed and she felt guilty for thinking any less of her girlfriend. “I’m sorry. I know you’re friends but… can this stay between us?”
Meredith knew where Callie’s loyalty lied, but she really didn’t want to hurt Addison’s feelings with this. The brunette saw it in her eyes.
“Yeah, don’t worry about it.” Callie gave her a soft smile. “Go finish it and get your prize.” She turned around and went back into Charlie’s room, leaving Meredith with her thoughts.
Decided not to overthink this, Meredith opened the envelope and took the card out.
Your last clue is near, don’t lose sight
look where we fell that very first night.
- AM
That was the easiest one to guess, and had Meredith instantly gathering her things and heading out to Joe’s, the place she realized she was in love with the redhead so many nights ago.
The bell above the door rang announcing her arrival, but the neonatal surgeon at the bar didn’t turn around at the sound.
Meredith didn’t notice her at first, raking her eyes through the room and spotting Lexie with her head on Mark’s shoulder, a house key on a velvet box next to a shiny ring on her sister’s finger, a dazzling smile on both their faces. She smiled too, knowing Lexie would tell her the news with a dreamy smile on her face the next morning.
She noticed Callie and Arizona having drinks with Teddy and Cristina, the four talking animatedly. Her person had her head thrown back laughing at something Teddy had said, their fingers absently twined together as Callie kissed Arizona’s right cheek and drew circles on her palm with her thumb.
Alex and April drank together and she knew Jo and Jackson were on call that night, so they would no doubt be heading back to the hospital after this.
After a few more moments, she walked slowly towards the bar, her breath catching at the sight of red hair falling over shoulders on a perfectly straight back. She’d always envied Addison’s perfect posture and the magnetic way she seemed to draw every look in the room, until she fell for her.
Then, she got it.
She got why people could rarely contain themselves to look at her when she stepped into a room, how her smile felt like it could both stop and start a war at the same time. How her personality and deep caring could heal every single one of Meredith’s emotional wounds.
The day she realized she was in love with Addison, the world came crashing down in a wave that brought her to her knees, but felt like nothing but peace.
There wasn’t the usual uneasiness and tightness in her stomach that she thought she should feel when she was in love with someone.
Instead, she felt light and happy, like the world was suddenly brighter and her nerves relaxed whenever the redhead brushed her hand against her arm in a gentle touch, or smiled with her eyes through her mask in the OR.
She touched the small of her back once she joined her on the stool beside her, a drink waiting for her and the final envelope on top of it.
“Hi.” Meredith smiled at her and Addison finally turned her head, smiling back at her.
“Hey.” was all she said as she kept staring at Meredith’s blue eyes, her gaze holding a loving softness so great the blonde thought she could cry. “I believe that’s yours.” Addison pointed with her eye to the glass, still playing cool about the game.
“Club soda?” Meredith took in the drink as her cold fingers opened the last clue.
“Yes.” Addison nodded and bit her lip in anticipation while Meredith read the card. “I want you sober for tonight.”
“Okay.” Meredith played into her game and acted like that very sentence didn’t just flare something up inside of her.
You did it! Here’s your last clue:
Look out for Cupid, he’s so smart!
his last clue is in the shape of a heart.
- Addie
“The shape of a heart?” Meredith tilted her head in confusion, sipping at her drink and feeling the weight of the redhead’s gaze on her.
“Let’s go home, you can look there.” She held out her hand and put a couple bills on the counter, saying goodnight to Joe.
The ride home was silent and warm with Addison’s hand on her tight the whole time. Not in a seducing kind of way, but simply because she enjoyed touching Meredith.
They entered the quiet house but neither needed an explanation. They knew who was on call and that the others would spend the night at their significant other’s place.
They took off their shoes and as Addison was lining them by the door, Meredith stepped closer and backed her into the wall. After playing into her game the whole day, the blonde wanted nothing more than to just feel Addison. She placed both hands on each of her cheeks, smiling when she noticed her cheekbones turning red as her lipstick under her gaze. Her thumbs brushed against the sharp angles that made Addison look the full Greek goddess she was and her eyes traced every delicate feature of her like they had all the time in the world.
She started at her hairline, the red tone of her hair never ceasing to amaze Meredith. Then, she dropped to her perfect eyebrows, that could both melt and make twitch with a single arch. She took a small step closer as her eyes locked and it felt like they had stopped breathing altogether. Meredith wanted nothing more than to drown in the deep oceans of Addison’s eyes. Her gaze raked down her long nose, admiring the freckles adorning her pretty face. And, finally, she stopped at her mouth, concentrating in the way her red tinted lips were almost a hard line, like Addison was physically restraining herself from licking her lips. Meredith wanted to do exactly that.
First, she kissed her forehead. A gesture she did often and that made Addison melt into a puddle every single time. “Thank you for all the effort you put in the scavenger hunt today, I had a lot of fun.”
She brushed one thumb over her cheek and smoothed her hair with the other.
“I’m glad you liked it.” Addison’s reply was low, her eyes too focused on her girlfriend’s next move.
Then, Meredith kissed the tip of her nose, taking her time brushing hers against Addison’s and feeling the redhead’s shivers against her skin. “I loved it. Like I love you.”
“I love you too.” Addison breathed out with her eyes closed, anticipating the blonde’s final move.
When Meredith was close enough to count her eyelashes, she tiptoed and joined her mouth to Addison’s in a soft kiss, filled with gratitude and love.
Love that quickly turned into passion when her tongue found the redhead’s bottom lip, teasing it until a soft gasp opened her mouth enough for the blonde to deepen the kiss. Soon, Addison’s hands were on her hair and she was holding more fiercely onto her waist, a leg hoisted between her tights.
“Bed.” Meredith dragged her up and they lost half their clothing on the stairs. “Wow.”
By the time they reached their bedroom they had only underwear on, and Meredith took in the room. A blood red comforter gave the white fitted sheets a whole new look, as did the matching pillowcases. A few candles were lit around the room, making it dim and bathing the room in Meredith’s favorite scent.
“I thought about petals but I know you don’t really like to go all out, but I still wanted it to look special so…” Addison began explaining, but Meredith’s lips against hers effectively shut her up.
“It’s perfect.” She took the redhead to the bed and relished in the way her hair mixed with covers. “I want to thank you for today.”
Meredith started to kiss Addison’s neck, pressing against her pulse point and feeling it quicken against her tongue. The thought of holding this much power thrilled her. Her heart was so full after everything Addison had done today, she wanted her to understand just how much. She was never good with words and feelings, so actions would have to do.
Her fingertips slid down her arms inch by inch like she was memorizing her. Every curve, every freckle, every point that made her gasp.
Addison’s soft hands played with her hair as Meredith’s kisses went down, from her chest to her stomach, to below her bellybutton, trailing down each of her tights until finally meeting the place the redhead needed her the most.
Her skilled fingers got rid of the fabric on the way and she smoothed her hands over her sides, giving a light squeeze before stroking her tongue from bottom to top. She rested her hands on her waist and felt every ragged breath Addison took as she worked her up. How her ribs sharpened when her tongue flicked and the way her hips worked up to meet her when she sucked in a particular way. She felt Addison’s hands looking for hers when she could no longer hold out her whimpers, a sure sign she was dancing on the edge, and linked their fingers together, squeezing her hand lightly over a sharp sucking motion that had the redhead falling over the edge to a white precipice, every sense in her body overwhelmed by Meredith’s presence. The blonde stayed in her place, bringing Addison down from her high and only leaving when her hands unlinked and Addison softly pushed her away.
“That was… God, Mer.” Addison tried to pull her up but her body was limp, all her muscles turned into jello.
Meredith lied on top of her with a happy smile, sighing when Addison’s hand came up to brush her hair.
“Your heart is beating really fast.” She laughed a little. “Should I page cardio?”
“This is your fault.” Addison laughed at her joke and breathed in again, trying to steady her pounding heart. “Wait, speaking of hearts…”
“I never got my prize.”
“You never got your prize.” Addison agreed and nudged Meredith to the side, so she could get up and walk to the closet. “Close your eyes.” She requested, already knowing Meredith would complain.
“You know I hate surprises.” Meredith said in a singsong voice.
“You’re gonna like this one.” Addison replied in equal tone.
When she returned, Meredith felt a small box in her hand.
“Open your eyes.” Addison said and waited for her to open the box.
“This is beautiful Addie, thank you!” Meredith smiled at the gold heart shaped necklace in the box.
“Look inside.” Addison prodded, a nervous smile on her face.
Only then did Meredith notice it was a locket. She toyed with the clasp a couple of times before managing to open it, the picture inside dimming her smile. It was a picture of Zola. She recognized the outline of Addison’s leg and realized it was cropped to fit the small heart. That picture was taken the first day they had gotten Zola home. She knew because she was the one who took it. What she didn’t understand was why Addison would give her a picture of their lost daughter to carry around her neck.
“Before you say anything, open this.” Addison handed a big envelope that had a red glittery heart just like the others, watching Meredith’s small frown.
Meredith carefully opened the envelope, taking a couple sheets from inside. She focused on the big letters and read through the page, each line filling her blue-gray eyes more. By the end of it, she had tear tracks running down her cheeks, and looked up to find the same on Addison’s.
“She’s ours?” Her voice was broken with a happiness she still didn’t allow herself to feel, afraid maybe she had misunderstood the document.
“Yes, baby.” Addison leaned closer and hugged her. “She’s ours. The social worker will bring her in the morning.”
“Oh my god, Addie.” Meredith was full on sobbing now, the weight of months waiting for this lifting off her shoulders and feeling like her lungs had finally remembered how to breathe properly.
“I know!” Addison practically squealed and brought Meredith to lie down on her shoulder. “I’m so happy.”
“I’m so happy. You make me so happy.” Meredith looked up and gave her a tender kiss. “We’re gonna be mommies.”
“Yes, we are.” Addison gave her one of her big smiles, one that threatened to shake Meredith’s very foundations with how it made her feel.
“Which reminds me…” Meredith suddenly got up like she remembered something and walked back to the hallway, padding down to Alex’s room. “Of your gift. Close your eyes, Addie.”
She came back moments later with her gift in hand, but the element of surprise was ruined by a tiny “meow.”
“YOU GOT ME A CAT?” Addison couldn’t wait for Meredith to tell her to open her eyes, she jumped at the sound and opened her eyes to find the love of her life holding a tiny orange kitten in her hands.
“You always talk of how much you’ve always wanted a cat but your parents wouldn’t allow it.” Meredith stroke it’s soft fur and handed it to Addison. “After doc… I’m not sure I’m prepared to have another dog yet, but I thought a cat could be good for us.”
“She’s so cute.” Addison’s eyes gleamed as she held the kitten so softly it looked like she was afraid it was going to break. “This is the best gift anyone has ever gotten me!” The redhead beamed at her and Meredith flushed, but smiled back just as happily. “Thank you so much!”
“You’re welcome, my love.”
After the kitten fell asleep on her lap and Addison had enough - for now - of looking at her, she walked back to Alex’s room and put her down on her cushioned bed. She made a quick stop in the bathroom to wash her hands and jumped back into bed, capturing Meredith in a searing kiss.
“What was that for?” Meredith chuckled a little breathless, loving the feeling of Addison’s warm hands on her skin.
“Just a thank you kiss…” she trailed her finger down her collarbones “And it’s your turn.”
She leaned in for another kiss, one that was more teeth than kiss from their blissful smiles for a while but that surely melted into passion and loving each other through the night, with the promise of a new life in the morning.