Meredith woke to the sound of music blaring downstairs followed by the voices trying to out sing the artist on the song. She buried her head under the pillow, her head was a little foggy after Cristina and Owen's wedding last night. It had been 15 months since she last had an alcoholic drink and one glass of champagne was enough to make her drunk.

It was pathetic she thought, she was a light weight but after 15 months of not drinking she thought it was a reasonable excuse. Just at this moment with the music blaring, it brought her back to when she was a teenager. When she'd go to parties and come home quite tipsy and be woken up by her younger siblings at what she would describe as the crack of dawn and no normal person ever woke up at that ridiculous hour. She always nurse those days with a sore head and ask Jackson and Charlie to remain as quiet as possible and not to fight. A lot of things had changed in those ten years but she liked those changes. It was just right now, she was feeling sorry for herself and wished the music wold stop.

"It had to be frozen." She mutters, squinting her eyes and looking for Zara.

It had been four years since Frozen had been out but it was still so popular today in their house. Kaylee had been three when the movie came out and it had fast grown into her favourite movie. Meredith thinks the two of them watched it nearly every day as Cooper was nestled safely inside her belly, growing bigger each day. He became a fan in-utero due to the constant playing of the soundtrack in the car and in the house and she remembered the little summersaults he did in her belly when 'let it go' played.

As Cooper came into the world and time was spent on nurturing him, Frozen seemed to be the only thing that the siblings could agree on to do together. Meredith could have time to sit and bond with Kaylee while Cooper slept. It was like a mutual understanding where Cooper knew it was Kaylee's time to bond with Mummy.

As the two grew Kaylee understood the movie more and shared her passion with her brother who grew to enjoy it. Now with Kaylee almost 8, the movie wasn't forgotten as Cooper enjoyed watching it just like his sister had at this age. Kaylee happily sat beside her brother, singing along to the songs now and Meredith's heart melted at how strong this bond was.

She remembered when she was pregnant with Zara and came home after working 20 hours. Her feet were aching, she had the biggest headache and Zara was wedged right in her ribs causing her the worst comfort. She just wanted to eat, shower and sleep after a long shift. She had walked through the door as it was after dinnertime and knew they'd be having their baths. She found the two of them perched up on the couch under the doona from her bed tucked around them. The glow from the TV was the only source of light. The children were staring wide-eyed at the screen and she had seen the biggest smiles on their faces as they watched the movie for the thousandth time. Meredith could quote the movie word for word but it was something that made them happy and when her kids were happy she was happy. She kicked her shoes off, sat her bag down and took off her coat and crept across the floor and moved under the doona with the kids and watched them turn and smile at her and rearranged their bodies to be pressed either side of her. The twenty hours seemed long forgotten. The crabby mood was left at the front door and Zara moved out from under her ribs and started kicking in response to the movie and the feel of Cooper and Kaylee's hands rubbing her belly. She kissed the tops of their heads and realised how much of an effect a movie could have on someone.

This movie spoke to the younger generation but reached out to the older generation, the parents, the aunts, the uncles and the grandparents. She realised no matter how crappy work had been it was best to forget it and immerse herself in her families' happiness. The movie worked wonders and she was thankful for the happiness it could bring to her children because they were the source of her happiness. When they smiled, she smiled wider. When they cried, she cried harder. When they laughed, she laughed harder. And right at that moment they were relaxed and happy and she was relaxed and happier. That'd been the first time since the movie was released she'd thank Disney despite the replays, the catchy songs and the never-ending merchandise which they seemed to fork out to for Christmas and birthdays.

She especially thanked Frozen for teaching children about the bond of family overall. How important it was to love your family and your siblings because they would always be there for you before romance. That's how Cooper and Kaylee bonded and have grown up appreciating each other in their own way of understanding and Meredith couldn't thank a movie enough for that lesson amongst all the other's it taught.

Now this morning there was no Zara beside her, pulling her hair or kissing her mother. Just the Frozen soundtrack blasting through the speakers and the laughs of her children.

Derek had an early page and left Meredith and Zara to sleep. Zara was becoming immune to the shriek of their pages. She was able to be moved from the bassinette to the bed or vice versa without her budging an eye. She could sleep through her parents getting ready or their cells ringing in the dead of the night. When her and Derek had sex or talked until they fell asleep. Nothing seemed to bother her and Meredith loved the fact that Cooper's tantrums and toy throwing could be slept through or when Peanut barked when visitors arrived. The baby could sleep like the dead and nothing would rouse her which Meredith knew would bite her in the arse when it came time to finally getting the baby ready to go places or when she started school but as long as she had an uninterrupted sleep and woke to be her happy self, that's all that mattered.

She rolled out from underneath the covers not wanting to miss a sing-a-long opportunity and trudged down the stairs carrying Sparrow, noticing the sore head. She'd need an aspirin and a greasy breakfast to make up for her lightweight habits. The tabby jumped from her arms the moment he heard the soundtrack, obviously he had become sick of the songs, especially when Kaylee and Cooper would get right up into his face and sing and carry him around re-enacting scenes from the movie and having the door slammed in his face one too many times when they dramatically ended 'Let it go'. Peanut though was lapping up the attention like always and watched happily from her bed with her tail wagging in time to the music.

Meredith watched from the doorway of the living room. Amelia and Kyle had stayed the rest of the week as the rest of the family headed back to the east coast and babysat the kids since school was out. Amelia balanced Zara on her hip with the baby satisfying her hunger with a thumb in her mouth and watched as Cooper got spun around by Amelia's free hand. Kyle danced with Kaylee and spun the dancing girl around.

"Love is an open door, love is an open door.
Life could be so much more, with you"

The five of them mimicked the song perfectly and added in the voices with Kyle dropping down on his knee in front of Kaylee.

"Can I say something crazy? Will you marry me?" Kyle says.

"Can I say something even crazier?" Kaylee says. "No." She says smirking.

"Oh, my feelings." He says touching his heart and Kaylee leans in and whispers something into his ear and smiles. "I'll keep it in mind."

"Good morning children." Meredith says smiling at them. Suddenly the sore hear went away and she was glad she was greeted with the sight of the kids.

"Mummy." Cooper says letting go of Amelia and racing to his mother, wrapping his arms around her legs. "We didn't wake you did we?"

Despite how big he is getting she lifts him up and he wraps his legs around her waist and she supports him with her arms at his lower back. "No." She says smiling at him. "You should have woken me for the dance party." She says nuzzling her nose against his.

"Well you can join in on the next song." He says smiling. "It's 'let it go'."

"Mummy's favourite song." She smiles at him and carries him in the centre of the living room as she brushes Kaylee's hair and kisses the top of her head before kissing Zara who smiled at her mother's sight. "Hello beautiful girl."

"Where's Daddy?" Cooper asks. "He can't miss out on the dance party on his birthday."

"Daddy's at work." Meredith tells him. "He'll be home in the afternoon when we get back from the airport."

"We can take a cab." Amelia says.

"Nonsense. I'm more than happy to take you guys." She tells them. "Come on let's get this dance party going."

They danced until their stomachs grumbled and they set off making a cooked breakfast of bacon and eggs with the soundtrack playing in the background.

Meredith nursed Zara as they ate breakfast and Kaylee was asking Amelia and Kyle what their favourite thing from the week together had been.

In Meredith's opinion the kids had been spoilt immensely. They went to the aquarium, the zoo, the adventure park, the markets, the movies, ice-skating and to their favourite eateries. Amelia and Kyle happily spoilt Kaylee and Cooper as Zara spent most of the days in the crèche close to her parents. The kids had fallen asleep straight after their baths and slept nearly 11 hours. Meredith and Derek were thankful for the extra help because school holidays usually were a busy time at the hospital and nearly 15 to 18 hours were spent at the hospital working especially in teaching the new flock of interns and moving to the next year of residency. This week Derek had entered his last year of residency and Meredith had hit the four year mark. It meant more responsibilities and expectations placed on their shoulders.

After breakfast Meredith slipped Zara into the hug-a-bub and stacked the dishwasher and washed the dishes that didn't fit while Amelia and Kyle finished packing. Cooper and Kaylee soaked up the last few hours of attention and Meredith set about doing a little bit of housework that had piled up in the last week and took a moment to bond with Zara even if the baby was pressed against her mother's heart it was enough to calm the baby down and snooze.

They decided they'd do the quick drop off to save Meredith parking the car and dragging the kids through the airport. This saved all the hassles and the parking fee. They'd do their goodbyes here and in the car and be out of the airport and headed back home to meet Derek. He had said his goodbyes last night as he was on call and knew he wouldn't make it back in time.

Meredith wrapped his present and wrote in the card with Kaylee and Cooper signing it with their names. Kyle packed the suitcase into the back of the car making sure there was enough room for Kaylee to jump into the third row of their SUV.

Meredith got Cooper dressed and then herself. She left Zara in her full length bodysuit saving her from waking the baby up. She'd change her when they left for the birthday plans they had organised for Derek. She keep her own appearance casual considering she'd be back home doing housework and watching the kids. Even Kaylee and Cooper were dressed in sweatpants and hoodies to keep with the casual feeling of their Saturday.

They did their formal goodbyes in the house and loaded themselves into the car. She headed towards the airport. In the last week she got to know Kyle more considering last time she was hopped up on painkillers and an emotional wreck. When now she got the time to find out about Kyle and found him to slip into the Shepherd family well. He got along with all the Shepherd children well and was called Uncle Kyle by most of them. He planned on doing engineering once he left school and had plans of having a family one day. He came from a big family like Amelia and didn't find himself overwhelmed like Kathleen and Nancy's husbands had. Meredith liked the boy and was glad Amelia found herself happy with someone who didn't judge her for the baggage she carried.

The trip took over thirty minutes despite the Saturday traffic and she found the terminal and parked in the drop off zone. Kyle pulled the suitcase from the back and Meredith moved Kaylee to the 2nd row while Amelia and Kyle did their second round of goodbyes with Cooper and Zara and then Kaylee and Meredith. They left them to be and the young couple headed into the terminal as Meredith quickly jumped into the car and drove off back home.

Derek's car was in the drive when they arrived home and he told her he'd picked up lunch for them. She helped Kaylee and Cooper down and grabbed the car seat and carried Zara inside. Derek was on the phone when they walked through the door and the kids ran to him, not caring if they interrupted him.

"Happy birthday Daddy!"

He smiled at the kids and kissed the tops of their heads and embraced them not caring that he'd interrupted the conversation he was having on the phone.

Meredith came towards them and kissed him softly. "Happy birthday love." She murmurs against his lips.

He smiled at her a wide smile and reached for Zara who was sucking her fist. She unbuckled the baby and handed her over to Derek and he continued his conversation with the baby on his hip where he placed soft kisses every moment he got.

Meredith caught the stolen kisses and felt her heart melt. There was nothing better than seeing father-daughter together. He didn't even mind that Zara had a poopy diaper.

She set lunch out for them and Derek entered having finished the conversation and Zara who was wearing just her diaper and a long sleeved tee.

"I could have changed her diaper." She tells him as he settles the baby into the highchair.

"I didn't mind." He says smiling. "You've done your fair share of diaper changing."

She kisses him again and feels him hold her closer longer with his hand placed at the base of her neck.

"I love you." He murmurs against her lips.

"I love you too." She says as they pull apart smiling and taking their seats at their kitchen table.

They spent lunch together as a family and Meredith knew how much Derek was enjoying family time making it a good birthday so far. She knew his birthday wishes each year was for a happy and healthy family. No gift could trump the gift of good health and wellbeing. This year they had Zara instead of a tiny bump to cherish.

"Can we give daddy his present now?" Kaylee asks bouncing on her seat.

"Of course." Meredith says nodding her head as Kaylee and Cooper race out to the living room where the presents sat.

"You know I didn't want a gift." He says smiling.

"The kids' insisted." She says smiling.

He kisses her again as Kaylee and Cooper enter baring a gift each.

"Here you go Daddy. Happy birthday." Kaylee says handing over the gifts.

"Thank you."

He opens the card first and reads it aloud.

"To Daddy Derek, happy 26th birthday. The four of us love you with all our hearts and we are so lucky to have you in our lives. You make our lives great and we're constantly smiling every day because of you and the love you have for us. We hope you enjoy your day and the idea of growing older (four years and you'll be the big 3-0). Love from Meredith, Kaylee, Cooper and Zara."

He smiles and sets the card down and goes to the kids present.

The first gift is a blue frame with four windows. Kaylee in the first, Cooper in the second and Zara in the third and the three of them in the last one. Kaylee holding the word We, Cooper holding Love, Zara holding You and the three of them holding Dad.

"This is beautiful." He says smiling. "Thank you."

"We thought you'd like it." Kaylee says. "Aunt Amelia helped us do it."

"It's lovely." He says. "I'm going to put it in my cubby so everyone can see how lucky I am."

"Look at the other gift Daddy." Cooper says.

Derek grabs the next gift and holds the notebook in his hands reading the front cover.

"Derek Christopher Shepherd. The best husband and daddy in the world." He reads aloud with a smile.

The notebook was filled with photos and their favourite things about the birthday boy.

"Derek Shepherd, the 7th of July 1992, he has dark hair and blue eyes. He works at Seattle Grace Mercy West hospital. He likes to fish. He's favourite colour is blue. His favourite food is healthy food. He likes to listen to The Clash. His favourite book is The Sun Also Rises. He likes to watch sport on TV and his favourite movie is Good Will Hunting. He has four sisters. He is married to Meredith and has three kids. Kaylee, Cooper and Zara. He makes us laugh when he dances and tells silly jokes or tickles us. We love him because he is smart, handsome and loving."

The smiles never leaves his face as he flips through the photographs, drawings and the words written about him. She notices his eyes go glassy and he fights back the tears that are threatening to fall.

"This is beautiful. I love it." He says smiling and catching the tear that fell. "Thank you." He says embracing the kids and kissing them. "I love you all so much." He says kissing Meredith and then Zara. "This is the best gift ever."

"We're glad you like it Daddy." Kaylee says.

"We've been working on it for weeks." Cooper says.

"Really?" he says. "It's just special and so wonderful."

"You still have one more." Meredith says pushing the other present towards him as she adjusts Zara to nurse her.

He opens the other gift which is a new wallet filled with coupons he can use at any time. They consist of different types of date nights, afternoon walks together, dance parties, sharing baths and just about everything else for the two of them to share, moments with the kids or time alone.

"I love it." He says kissing her cheek. "I'm sure I'll use them."

"It's a little cheesy but I didn't want the wallet going bare."

"It's thoughtful and I love it."

"Good." She says smirking. "Anyway, would you like to know what we're doing tonight?"

"I would."

"Kids, why don't you tell daddy."

"Well, we're going for dinner at our favourite pizzeria." Kaylee says smiling.

"Then we're going bowling." Cooper says throwing his hands up in the air.

"Bowling?" He says. "I love bowling."

"And it's Saturday night so it's disco night." Kaylee says.

"Oh, I love disco night. You're mother and I used to always go bowling together on Saturday nights. It was my favourite way to spend Saturday nights. Then we'd go to the roller-rink."

"And you never improved on roller skating." She says smiling. "You're daddy spent a lot of time on the ground than skating."

The kids laugh and Derek smiles.

"Gosh, they were some fun nights." He says. "Then we'd eat ice-cream overlooking the ferry boats and stay awake until and watch the sunrise."

She smiles at the memory and hoped for just a moment they could do that again.

"Can we watch the sunrise one morning daddy?" Kaylee asks.

"Of course we can." He says smiling.

…

They left the house just after 6 dressed more casually then formal and headed to their pizzeria where they had a table for the five of them.

She couldn't remember the last time they all shared a family dinner out together and thinks it was just before Zara was born. It was nice to relax for once together and enjoy family company together.

They were seated and Zara happily sat on Derek's lap taking in her surroundings and sucking on her teething ring. She had grown out of her pacifier and much preferred her fist to sooth herself after feedings. The kids sat drawing on the butchers' paper that covered the table with crayons.

"How long has it been since our last family outing?" She asks.

"A while I think." He says trying to rack his brain. "Possibly before this little one was here." He says motioning to Zara.

"Well let's document it then." She says grabbing her phone and going to the camera. "Excuse me. Would you mind taking a photo for us?" She asks the waitress that drops their drinks off.

"Of course." She says taking the phone.

She moved her chair closer to Derek and Cooper sat on her lap while Kaylee perched herself in between her parents and they posed for the photo.

"Adorable." The waitress says smiling and handing the phone back.

"Thank you." Meredith says taking the phone to review the image. Her heart melts at the sight of them together and she couldn't feel prouder for her little family. "I'm going to send this to your mother."

"She'll love it." He says looking at the photo. "Look, bubby is smiling."

"She sure is." She says. "She loves the camera, don't you little girl." She says tickling the baby who giggles.

They shared a large cheesy pizza between them and told stories of Derek's past birthdays and talked about their upcoming trip. The kids laughed at the stories Derek told them about his trips to Bubble Bay and the vacation home his family owned and he recalled the times the crabs chased him and Mark to the back fence of the house and every year after chased him again and again. He told them about the time Mark fell asleep and Meredith and he turned him into a sand mermaid and he woke up so sunburnt he could hardly move his arms for the rest of the week. He told them about the frogs they hid in Nancy and Kathleen's beds and all the other stunts they pulled on the girls which usually landed him in trouble.

The stories seemed to spark interest in the kids more and they voiced their excitement for their family holiday at the end of September.

They paid the bill noticing it was close to the time she booked for their bowling lane and drove across town to the alley. She opened the stroller and connected the car seat and they headed into the alley that was starting to fill out with the Saturday night bowlers.

They ate ice-cream to fill in some time and reward the kids on their excellent behaviour before paying for their game and grabbing their shoes and heading to their lane. They helped the two kids get their shoes on before they tied their own and grabbed the bowling balls. Their names were on the screen and the gutter guards in place and they began their game of bowling.

Cooper made them laugh the most with his little dance he did when the ball reached the pins and knocked only a few over. He though, thought he was going great and it warmed their hearts seeing his excitement over knocking over a few pins. He cheered when they all had their own turns and grooved to the music playing as they turned the disco lights on.

Kaylee did her own shuffle when she bowled down a few pins and would high-five her parents and brother. Zara sat watching the disco ball more than anything else and grizzled that she couldn't have the shiny, sparkly object. She was happy in her mother's arms displaying how tired she was getting and soaking up cuddle time. She changed the baby into her pyjamas whilst it wasn't her turn and rocked the baby to the beat of the music in hopes she'd hold off a little while for a nurse.

Derek won the game with an easy 124 points, she trailed with 100 and Kaylee and Cooper tied evenly with 65. Despite Derek winning they seemed happy with having bowled and found it fair that their father won on his birthday.

"Play some of the arcade games." She tells him as they hand over their shoes. "I'm going to go and nurse her in the car. She's tired." She says moving the baby to her other hip.

"Alright, we'll be 20 minutes." He says handing her the keys and kissing her lips.

She pushes the strolled to the car and unfolds it and sets it in the back of the car and settles herself in the front seat and nurses Zara.

"What games do you kids want to play?" He asks them.

They raced cars, hit gofers, played air hockey and played the dance simulation game. As the bowling alley started to fill with rowdy teenagers and Cooper started rubbing his eyes they knew it'd be time to leave. He carried Cooper across the car park and held Kaylee's hand. He changed Cooper into his pyjamas and buckled him into his booster seat in case he fell asleep on the trip home which he would by the look of him. He helped Kaylee change into hers and she buckled herself into her booster.

"She almost done?" He asks quietly.

"Yeah, just about." She says smiling at him and then at Zara who had her eyes pressed shut, her hand resting above her mother's breast locked around her mother's finger. Cooper yawned and rubbed his eyes and brought his stuffed bunny closer to his body and rested his head on the side of the booster seat.

"We'll be home soon Coop." Derek tells him, noticing his yawning.

"Sissy drinking?"

"Yeah she is." He says.

"That's fine. Sissy needs her milk." He says fighting to keep his eyes opened.

Derek smiles at the sight of Cooper and couldn't get over how lucky he was to have three wonderful kids. Birthdays had been the best since Kaylee was born especially when she grew older to understand them. These occasions were the most wonderful and having family to share in the days made them worthwhile especially the thoughtful gifts and the extra hugs and kisses.

He turned to Meredith just as Zara pulled away in her state of content. He took her off of Meredith and rubbed her back for a moment to keep her settled as Meredith fixed herself up and grabbed the car seat, resting it on her lap. Derek carefully placed a kiss to his daughter's head and lay her down gently. She fussed for a moment as she was buckled in but a rub to her belly made the fussing stop. She let out a big yawn and nestled into the car seat. He connected the car seat to the base and started the car and smiled at Meredith as he put his seatbelt on.

He drove from the lot and headed the direction home.

"The three of them are sound asleep." He tells her.

She turns around and looks at her three sleeping beauties and smiles.

"How about for old times' sake we go and watch the ferryboats?" He suggests. "We won't stay for long. I just want to have a moment with you at one of our favourite spots."

She nodded her head and he drove towards the lookout. The air was quite cool so he kept the car running knowing they wouldn't stay too long.

He climbed from the car and headed to the fence. Meredith followed him and he wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on her shoulder as they overlooked the lights of the city.

"Thank you for tonight." He says softly.

"Anything for you." She replies. "I just thought family would be best, especially with how things have been."

"I know. It was one of my best birthdays today."

"That good? I haven't even given you your other gift yet?"

"You've given me enough already."

"So you're rejecting the mind blowing birthday sex I was offering?"

"Let's go then." He says laughing and taking a hold of her hand and dragging her towards the car.

"Gosh, you're like a kid in the candy store." She says laughing.

"And is enthusiasm a bad thing?"

"Certainly not. We've got three sleeping kids, we better make use of it." She says climbing into the dark cabin of the car. She leans over and grabs a hold of his face and guides him towards her. She places a soft kiss to his lips and pulls away smiling. "Happy birthday Derek."