What You Come Back To
Three years after leaving without a proper explanation, Meredith is returning to Seattle Grace for her promised fellowship position with Evelyn in tow, but not everyone is pleased to see her or her beautiful three year old daughter who looks exactly like her father.
Chapter One
Florida had never felt like home to Meredith. Sure, she had settled in after Evelyn was born with her roommate Jessica, but Meredith always felt like a guest in the overly sunny town along Miami Beach. But as her residency days were coming to an end, Meredith was finally able to retake her position at Seattle Grace. She could finally go home.
"Evelyn Michaela Grey! You have to get in the car now! We're leaving for the airport in a minute!"
Meredith's three year old daughter ran across the hospital lobby into her waiting arms after saying goodbye to the doctors and nurses she had grown up around.
"We go now?" Evelyn asked her mother as she was buckled into the car seat in Jessica's car.
"Yeah baby, we're going to the airport now. We're going to mummy's home in Seattle."
"Where S'attle?" Evelyn asked in her cute voice.
"Home."
Meredith was lucky Evelyn was tired on the five hour flight from Miami to Seattle; she wouldn't have been able to handle a hyperactive or cranky toddler in a restricted area.
When they finally touched down in Washington and left the terminal, baggage in tow, Meredith was relieved to see Richard Webber waiting outside for them.
"Richard!" she called, letting Evelyn out of her arms to run and hug her grandfather.
"Gwampa Richard!" Evelyn babbled in her typical manner.
Richard was smiling and obviously pleased to see them.
"Hello Mere, hello Evelyn," he greeted. "Are you ready to come back?"
Meredith sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be, let's go."
The car trip to Seattle Grace Hospital wasn't a long one, but Meredith dreaded it anyway. She didn't want to be seen with Evelyn in front of the never-ending gossip mill once she entered the front doors before she had a chance to announce her return.
"You know I have a secret hallway we can sneak you in," Richard mentioned in passing as they pulled Evelyn out of the car.
"Thank god, you read my mind. Lead the way."
By the time Meredith and Richard reached his office, Evelyn, who was supposed to be following them, had wandered off.
She walked across the big bridge with glass sides taking everything in when she bumped into a tall woman.
"Hello," she said sweetly, picking up the little girl. "What's your name?"
"Evelyn!" she squealed.
The woman was joined by three other people Evelyn didn't know, and she as confused.
"Who you?" she asked the woman holding her.
The four people laughed. "I'm Izzie," she responded.
Evelyn thought for a second before announcing the new person's name.
"Izzie! Who you?" she asked the man next to her.
"Alex."
Evelyn cocked her head to the side for a moment, digesting this new person.
"Awex!" she giggled. "Who you?"
"Christina."
Evelyn stopped for a little longer, trying to wrap her tongue around this hard name.
"Cwissy?" Her response was a laugh from them. "Who you?" she asked the last man.
"George."
Evelyn knew how to say his name. "Gorg!" she announced proudly.
Her four new friends laughed.
"Who do you belong to Evelyn?" Izzie asked.
"Mummy!" she squealed, knowing the answer to that question.
"Who's mummy?" Alex asked.
Evelyn shrugged adorably. "I dunno, she mummy! She dottor!"
"If you ask me, she looks like McDreamy," Christina muttered.
"Well, nobody asked you, did they, Yang?" Alex retorted.
"Shut it, evil spawn," was her immediate response, but the argument was interrupted by Evelyn's squealing again.
"Mummy!" she pointed towards the chief's office where Meredith and Webber had just exited.
Izzie put the girl down, and all four stared at the woman no one had seen for almost four years.
"Mummy, mummy, mummy, mummy, mummy, mummy," Evelyn babbled as she ran towards the woman who was obviously her mother.
"Baby!" Meredith ducked down to pick up her babbling toddler.
"Mummy," Evelyn said proudly.
Meredith sighed. "Evelyn Michaela Grey, how many times have I told you that you can't run away from mummy or Grandpa Richard," she began.
Richard looked concerned. "Ah, Meredith?" he tried to interrupt.
"Not now, Richard," she said before continuing her lecture. "We might me in mummy's hospital but you have to stay with me all the time…"
"Ah, Meredith," the chief tried again.
"I'm busy Richard," she sighed. "Now, who were you with?"
Evelyn smiled. "Friends!" she pointed towards the four people she had just met who were staring at her intently.
Meredith couldn't believe her eyes. Christina, Izzie, Alex and George were staring at her and her daughter; their mouths wide open in shock.
"Ah, Meredith," Richard tried for a third time.
"Yes?" she asked, the confidence in her voice slowly draining.
"You may want to turn around for this one."
Meredith braced herself for what she couldn't see. Standing behind her with looks of absolute disbelief on their faces were Derek Shepherd, Mark Sloan, Addison Montgomery and Miranda Bailey.
"Hello Meredith."
The conference room two doors down was filled with people by the time she could speak again.
"Meredith, put your daughter on the table before she screams the room down," Richard begged, trying to stop Evelyn from crying while trying to escape the death grip she was caught in.
Doctor Grey let the three year old out of her arms and collapsed into the nearest chair. Evelyn was happy to walk around on the large table and stop in front of everyone to stare at them or ask random questions once she had settled down.
The rest of the room was silent; only Meredith was sitting, everyone else was standing around the table.
"Well, well, well, the prodigal resident returns," Doctor Bailey broke the silence.
Meredith raised her head to look her former mentor in the eye and smiled.
"What is she doing here?" Christina asked, her voice full of malice and hatred.
All eyes turned to Christina, then to Chief Webber when he spoke.
"Doctor Grey us returning as our new Neuro fellow," Dr Webber answered calmly. "She starts again tomorrow with the rest of you."
The room was silent except for Evelyn's footsteps on the wooden table.
"And who is she?" Addison asked quietly, fearing the answer and consequent explanation.
"She's my daughter, Addison," Meredith said, her voice barely louder than a whisper.
"How old is she?" Mark Sloan asked.
"Three years," Meredith looked at the date, "Tomorrow, actually."
"So she's why you left."
Meredith looked up into his eyes; the same ones she wished she could have been seeing for the last three years herself; the same eyes her daughter had inherited.
"I left when I found out I was pregnant, Derek. As much as I wanted to raise her here with my family, I couldn't or wouldn't have been able to deal with the gossiping and the rumours, so I transferred to Florida. Miami Beach Memorial, to be exact."
The room remained silent. Evelyn, tired of the lack of attention, sat down in the middle of the table and began to sing randomly.
"You fled," Derek responded.
"But I don't understand why!" Izzie exclaimed. "We would have helped you, loved her like our own. Didn't you want that for Evelyn? Didn't you think she'd want a loving family for herself?"
"Don't you think I know that?!?!" Meredith yelled in return. "Do you know how many times I have wished all of you were with me; how I wished I was here? Do any of you know how hard it is to raise a little girl on your own?"
"You could have called."
"The last time I spoke to you I was still pregnant. I couldn't bring myself to call you…"
"Why?"
The simple question from her McDreamy stopped her world. She turned to Derek.
"I felt ashamed, Derek. I was pregnant with your child and I couldn't stand the shameful looks I would have been getting from everyone."
They all stared at her again.
"You mean she's mine? I'm Evelyn's father?"
Meredith smacked her hand to her mouth.
"I have never told anyone she was yours," she whispered with her head bowed in shame. "I named her after your parents; Evelyn for your mother and Michaela for your father."
"Evelyn Michaela Shepherd; has a nice ring to it."
"It's Evelyn Michaela Grey, actually."
The people standing around the conference table continued to watch the exchange in silence, and were surprised when Meredith picked up her daughter by her arms and left the room.
Meredith did not stop until she reached the place she knew no one would look; Derek's office.
They would search the on call rooms, locker rooms, supply closets and bathrooms, but they wouldn't check his office. And she wasn't leaving unless Evelyn gave away their hiding spot.
Meredith sighed. His couch was very comfortable and still smelt like lavender. He had obviously sprayed it or something to remind him of her scent. To Meredith, the familiar scent of lavender, one she had stopped using when she fled, was the sign she had been looking for; the sign that she belonged here, at home in Seattle.
She sat on his couch, soaking up Derek's own scent, and began to cry. Meredith honestly did not think that everyone except Richard, and probably Miranda Bailey, would hate her so much for leaving. She especially thought Christina and Izzie would understand, because she knew Derek wouldn't.
Her own tears evoked a renewed emotion in Meredith's heart; love. She had not felt this lonely since before Evelyn was born, but now that she returned home, Meredith could not bear to be here without Derek's love.
She needed him to survive. He was the love of her life, and the father of their daughter, albeit one he just met. But she could not live without him, and he needed to know how she felt.
Leaving their baby to sleep on his couch, Meredith stood up and approached his wooden desk, before placing herself in his worn leather chair. It felt good to finally be surrounded in him for the first time in years, but now all she really wanted was Derek.
She picked up the telephone on his desk and dialled the familiar cell phone number she had memorised years before.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Derek, it's me," she whispered in return.
"Mere…"
"Shhh, I don't want them to know where I am. Come to your office quietly so we can talk."
She hung up the phone, not waiting for his response, and fell back into his chair, waiting for him to show up.
Meredith knew he would, because his love for her always had been pure, and because he needed her to survive as much as she needed him.
The people in the conference room sat in complete silence, shock written all over their faces.
"Well it's about time Grey grew some balls," Alex said, braking the silence. "And her kid really is cute."
"I have to go find her," Derek muttered, racing out of the room.
He paused at the door and turned to look at the rest of them. "Well? Are you coming?"
Everyone else slowly made their way towards him in an effort to find their friend. Everyone except Christina.
"You guys go ahead, you won't find her. She'll stay where she is until she wants to be found."
Derek ignored her and raced off down the corridor.
"We need to check the on call rooms, supply closets and bathrooms!" George called after him. Nobody had seen Derek this alive since Meredith left.
Derek sat at his usual table in the cafeteria, head in his hands, wondering where the hell his daughter and her mother were.
"You okay, Shep?" Mark asked quietly as he sat down in an empty chair beside him.
Derek moaned. "I need to know where she is, Mark. I need to know if she's okay; if they're both okay…"
Mark looked at Derek's face. Sure, his friend had opened up to him since Meredith had left, but Mark had never seen him in this state before. So sad, so… heartbroken.
Before Mark could say anything to comfort him, Derek's phone rang in his pocket.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Derek, it's me," the other person whispered.
"Mere…"
"Shhh, I don't want them to know where I am. Come to your office quietly so we can talk."
The line went dead and Derek stared at the screen.
"Was that Mere?" Mark asked.
Derek only nodded. "She wants me to come to my office so we can talk. I think that's where she's hiding."
Mark smiled. "Well, what are you waiting for? Do you want me to tell the other's we've found her?"
"No!" he immediately responded. "Don't tell them where I am; we'll come out when she's ready."
Mark watched in awe as Derek rose from the chair and put on an act to skulk off to his office to finally meet his daughter.
Well, I'm ending the chapter there. Next time, we'll see just what Meredith has to say, and how Evelyn takes the news that she finally has a daddy. And we'll see just how far everyone moved on, relationship wise, while the Grey's were in Florida.
Please, please, please don't forget to review, I would like to know just how much you guys like it.
