It sucked for Derek to be 15 and single boy between 4 sisters.

"I don't think so!" he vehemently shook his head and took a step aside to leave the room.

Nancy and Anna blocked his way. They were taller than he was and having the smallest room in the house, Derek was trapped in there.

"Just this time, Derek," Nancy asked.

"We never asked you for anything," Anna added.

"Should I..." he wanted to remind them.

"No!" Anna and Nancy answered together. "This is a special favor."

"No," he stayed with his first answer.

Nancy narrowed her eyes. "We won't pay you. You're doing this because you're our brother and because we're your sisters. And we should help each other."

"You didn't help me when I asked you to help me invite Esther out," he replied.

Nancy and Anna snickered.

"She's out of your league."

"No." he answered to their favor. "Help me invite Esther out."

"Derek," Anna sighed. "Esther will never accept this. I can ask... Laura if she wants to go out with you."

"She chews her hair!" he looked disgusted. "I don't want to go out with her. Yesterday she came to school with pink hair!"

"Derek, you need to be realistic. Who else would go out with you?" Nancy mocked him.

"No." he answered again.

"Come on, Derek!" Anna started to plead.

"No."

"Just for an hour or two."

"No."

"Derek!" Anna pled more.

"Esther or 'no'." He was still firm with his answer.

Anna and Nancy looked at each other and nodded understandingly as if they were mutually communicating.

Nancy turned to Derek. "I can tell you what time she walks her dog."

Derek wasn't thrilled with the deal but he knew it was better than nothing. "Fine."

"Finally!" the girls breathed with relief.

"We'll take you there when we're ready to leave," Nancy told him and, as their problem had been solved, they turned around and left, not bugging him anymore.

---

"It's very nice of you to help your sisters," Carolyn Shepherd said to her son.

"Yeah," he grumbled, leaned over the kitchen counter.

"I am sure they'll return the favor," she reassured him.

"They'd better."

"I will be across the street, so you can call me if you need anything."

"Why don't you go to her, then?"

"Because I have dinner to cook and later to get ready for work. I don't have time to watch a 5 year old."

"But admit it..." Derek argued. "It's not fair what they're doing. It's Nancy's job to baby sit Meredith. Mrs. Grey even pays her."

"This is her prom night, Derek. Your dad brings Kathleen and Amalia from grandma just tomorrow night."

Derek snorted, still pissed with the service he had been asked to do.

Derek never liked his neighbor's house. He had witnessed to Mr. Grey's scandalous departure, children ignored the house for Halloween trick or treat and it was always quiet. Derek found it very depressing. He had never been inside and never was curious about it either. His sisters had told it wasn't out of ordinary.

He took a deep breath and knocked at the door.

"In a minute!" someone's voice answered to his knock. The door swung open and Mrs. Grey showed up, heavily breathing because of the hurry she was in. "Derek," she mumbled, while putting her other shoe on. "Meredith! Derek's here. You're going to stay with him for a little while!"

A shaky whimper was heard as the little girl ran to her mother. She stopped beside her, clutching on her mommy's skirt and looking at Derek. "Mommy?" she looked pleadingly at her.

Mrs. Grey bent to the little girl and told her, "I have an important dinner to attend, remember? You're going to be nice for Derek, ok? I don't want to hear that you misbehaved." She stood up and turned to Derek. "She has dinner in the refrigerator. Do you know how to use the stove?"

Derek just nodded.

"Alright then." She took Meredith's hand to free herself from her grip and walked past Derek, outside.

"Mommy!" the girl whimpered and wanted to run outside after her.

"What you're doing?" she snapped at Derek while grabbing Meredith to push her back into the house. "Hold her and do not let her go outside."

Bewildered by how fast everything was happening, Derek managed to grab Meredith's shoulder and held her inside while he locked the door. He had expected resistance from the little girl, but her shoulders buckled under as she turned around and trailed her little feet back into the living room, muttering, "I don't like you."

Derek wanted to laugh. His sister had forgotten to mention how spoiled and rude Meredith was. He shook his head, cursing his sister for this evening.

He hadn't baby sitted before, but he had an idea what he was supposed to do; make sure the kid was staying safe. He followed Meredith into the living room and found her on the floor, bent over a coloring book. He wasn't curious what she was doing there and he wasn't in the mood for chatting either, so he crushed on the couch and took the remote control to surfe through channels. He made sure he was listening to Meredith's crayon as it drew on the paper, but otherwise he wasn't paying any other attention to her.

The flashing light of the VCR had his attention and switching the TV in the mode for video tapes, Derek found a recording of what looked like a surgery. Curious, he sat back and pressed play. It was for the first time Derek saw the inside of an OR and the real inside of a body.

At some point, while Derek had the maxim focus on the procedure, a thud was heard in the kitchen. Derek jumped up, alarmed, and looked around for Meredith. She was no longer in the same room with him.

"Meredith?" He called her.

No answer came from Meredith, but he could hear noise in the kitchen, and hurried in there. A metal jar was down on the floor and Meredith was on a chair, trying to climb upper on the counter.

"What are you doing?" he hurried to hold her back. He grabbed her by the waist, but Meredith protested, kicking with her feet. "Stop kicking!" he demanded. He took a step back to see what she was going to do. "Where are you trying to get?"

Meredith stopped a little and turned to him, pointing up to the cabinet. "Mommy has candies there," she told him. Then she turned her back on him, again, and leaned over the counter, trying to climb up.

"Let me get them for you," Derek offered, and took her by the waist to hold her.

"No," she whimpered and wriggled her tiny body to shake Derek's hands away. "Me."

Derek stepped back, again, this time decided to let her do her way. "You're stubborn."

"Uh-huh," Meredith accepted it.

"Stubborn is stupid, you know," he told her.

Meredith was up on the counter now. She turned around, her hands on her hips and frowning down at Derek. "You're stupid." Then she turned her back on him, again, and opened a cabinet. She took out a jar, giggling proudly as she held it craddled into her arms. She carefully put it down and then sat down next to it. She opened the jar and took out two candies. She kept one and the other one handed it to Derek.

"Thanks," Derek accepted the candy. Then he watched her standing up and putting the jar back on its place. "What are you doing?"

Meredith breathed heavily as she managed to leave the jar at its place. She shut the cabinet and opened her candy. She smiled down at him and sat down on the edge. Then she held her arms out to him.

"What?"

"I want down."

"Use the chair," Derek pointed to the chair she had used to climb up.

"I am scared," she muttered.

"Oh. Are you, really?"

Meredith nodded.

"Ugh!" Derek groaned. He walked to the counter and picked Meredith up, helping her get down. "Why all this effort for just one candy?" he asked her.

"Because I don't want to get sick," she answered, sucking her candy. "One candy my mommy says."

"Does she?" he smiled pitifully. "I think she lied to you."

Meredith gasped, frowning. "My mommy is smart!" she replied. "She's a doctor!"

"I didn't say she was stupid."

She gasped again. "You're stupid!" she retorted.

Derek rolled his eyes. He was smart enough not to argue foolishly with a 5-year-old. "Go and play. Do something. But stay out of trouble."

"Do you want to see my room?" she became suddenly excited. As his answer was late, she slowly started to pout.

"Ok. Let's see your room."

Meredith giggled and ran ahead, out of the kitchen, shouting: "Let's play with dolls."

"I don't think so," Derek muttered, but followed her, anyway.

Her room was like any other girl's room, Derek noticed. She had a few toys, each at its place, none left randomly, a few books on a shelf and furniture in the style of those he had seen at his sisters, too. While he stayedi in the doorway, observing details from her room, Meredith came back with a doll.

"Look!" she showed him, very proud, a anatomy Jane doll. "Her name is Jane. She's a patient."

Derek made a face as he looked at the doll. It didn't look much like the dolls he had seen to his sisters, fancy and dressed up.

"Here," she pushed the doll into his hands, encouraging him to take it. "You can play with her."

"I don't think..."

"We can play together," Meredith insisted. She let the doll fall, thinking that he might take it. Instead, it fell on the floor and a few pieces scattered around.

"Oh no," Derek immediately felt bad for breaking her doll.

Meredith let out a whimper as she knelt beside her doll, but it wasn't a whimper of disappointment or sadness. She picked all the pieces and the doll and ran to her bed. "She needs surgery!" she called to Derek, as serious as she could.

Derek smiled with distrust. And because he was just standing there, Meredith turned to him with a frown and her hands on her hips. "Don't smile!" she scolded. "You made her sick."

Her serious tone wiped Derek's smile off. He walked to the bed and stopped behind her, watching as she undressed her doll; just then, when he saw her abdominal cavity open, Derek realized what kind of doll that was.

"This is her liver," she told Derek. She cleaned the piece on her shirt and then looked carefully at it. "It's good now," she informed him and placed the liver into the cavity. She did the same thing with the rest of the pieces/organs, telling Derek the name of each of them.

"How do you know all these?"

Meredith rolled her eyes at him. "My mommy is a doctor. She showed me in a book. We have to close her her up. Do you want to do it?"

Derek hesitated a little, being rather ashamed of playing with doll, but as no friend or sister of him was around, his reputation was safe. Meredith gave him a rag and guided him throughout the procedure, which wasn't really much thing to do but roll the doll's abdomen in that rag.

"And you know what each organ does?" he asked.

Meredith winced and shook her head. "But mommy said I would be a doctor. I will know then. But I have a book. Do you want to see it?"

Her excitment managed to melt Derek a little; besides, she seemed to know some pretty interesting things; besides, her mother had a few surgery tapes, probably very interesting to watch. Anatomy was never one of his favorite sciences at school, but he started to have a different view over it now.

They lay together in bed with the book on Meredith's legs. It was an anatomy illustrated book for children they browsed together, Derek reading it and Meredith looking at the pictures and at Derek for his reaction.

"Derek?" she whispered, patting his arm. It was minutes later and Meredith was fussing restlessly beside him.

Derek looked at her.

"I am hungry," she told him.

Derek sighed and nodded. He put the book aside and got out of bed. "Let's see what you have in the refrigerator."

"Umm…" Meredith stayed behind, whimpering.

"What?"

Meredith made a face and said quietly, "I don't like mommy's food."

"But you have to eat it."

Meredith looked pleadingly at him.

"What do you want me to do? Cook for you?" he laughed.

Meredith giggled and bit her lip.

"I don't cook," he said.

"Nancy takes me to your house. Sometimes."

Derek nodded, remembering the evenings when Meredith joined them for dinner. "Let's go."

Even though he lived right across the street from Meredith, Derek made sure he put a jacket on her, before taking her out of the house.

He was stepping on the porch of his house when he realized that Meredith wasn't there with him. He spun around and found her on the opposite sidewalk, calmly watching him.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

Meredith just held out one hand.

"Meredith, come on. Did you change your mind?"

The girl shook her head.

"Ugh," he groaned and crossed the street to go to her. "What's wrong with you?"

She looked up at him, with innocent eyes. "You have to hold my hand when I am on street."

Derek stared at her and wanted to laugh. "But it's evening and it barely passes a car on this street."

Meredith turned her head away and looked somewhere further on the street. The lights of a car could be seen appearing on the street, soon followed by the sound of the engine. They watched as the car flew on the street.

Meredith turned to stare at Derek.

Derek nodded understandingly and took her hand, holding it as they crossed the street. The door to his house opened and his mother appeared on the porch. "She's smarter than you, Derek," she shook her head with disapproval. "How could you even think to let her cross the street by herself?"

"I was with her," he frowned.

"You should be more careful with yourself, too," she warned him. "Good evening, Meredith," she smiled kindly at the girl, holding her hand to her.

"Hello," Meredith smiled sweetly, taking her hand and accepting the invitation in. "Derek and I did surgery," she told Mrs. Shepherd.

"Really? And did you save the patient?"

"Uh-huh. Yes, we did," Meredith answered. "Nancy doesn't like to play doctor with me," she stated sadly.

"But Derek does," she teasingly smiled at her son.

"Derek is nice," Meredith stated.

Derek rolled his eyes, acting indifferent. "Her mom is a doctor so she has a lot of medical stuff in there."

"You might have an option for college then," his mother pointed out. "Let's go into the kitchen, sweetie. I heard you're hungry."

Meredith nodded and took Mrs. Shepherd's hand. She looked back at Derek motioning him to follow them.

Derek was a little hungry, so he followed them into the kitchen.

"Are you and Derek having fun?" Carolyn Shepherd asked Meredith as she set up the table for dinner.

Meredith shrugged at first, a little insecure, but then nodded her head.

Mrs. Shepherd put a bowl of soup in front of her. "Derek, where's Mark? Is he coming for dinner?"

Derek shook his head. "His parents are home," he answered.

"Thank you," Meredith smiled politely as she was served. "Umm..." she wanted to say something, but didn't have the courage.

"What is it, Meredith?" Mrs. Shepherd asked her.

Meredith looked at the bowl as she muttered, "Don't tell mommy."

"I know," Mrs. Shephered gently touched her hair. "Don't worry about her. Eat."

Everyone sat at the table and ate in silence. Meredith was getting restless at some points and each time she was glancing at Derek, a gesture which Mrs. Shepherd noticed and smiled. It was obvious that Mrs. Shepherd had a good opinion on Meredith; she could criticize Mrs. Grey on some aspects, but she gave a good education to her daughter.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Mrs. Shepherd asked Meredith, trying this way to help her get into a conversation with Derek. She was ready to serve the desert so Meredith and Derek was sitting back in their chairs, doing nothing.

"I want to become a doctor. Like mommy," she answered. "And I want to get a puppy," she added.

"You have good chances to accomplish all these," Mrs. Shepherd encouraged her.

"And I won't go to bed," Meredith said, also.

"Oh, I think you will," she laughed.

"Seriously, mom. Like she knows what she wants at this age."

"You might be surprised, Derek," his mother answered knowingly.

"What do you want to be?" Meredith asked him.

"Me? I don't know, yet."

Meredith shook her head with disapproval. "I want to go to parties, too."

"So you want to be independent," Mrs. Shepherd.

Meredith looked at her, puzzled, "What's that?"

"It means that you want to have a job and do what you want."

"Yes," Meredith admitted with a firm nod. "Are you indepen...ment?"

"Independent," Mrs. Shepherd helped her.

"I... almost am," he glared at his mom for the topic she brought up. "I am done here. I am going to my room."

"No, you're not. You're going to take Meredith home and stay with until her mom comes back."

Derek didn't like it, but didn't argue. When Meredith was done with her dessert, he helped put the jacket on and went back to her house. At least he had found something interesting to do; watch Mrs. Grey's surgery tape. Meredith seemed to be understanding with him, too, because she let him stay in the couch and watch TV, without asking him anything.

Like a good host, Meredith walked slowly in the living room, carefully carrying two glasses with milk.

"One's for me?"

Meredith nodded and held them to him, so she could climb freely on the couch. She put her hand into the pocket of her pants and took out two candies, one for Derek and one for her.

"Did you climb on the counter again?" he accusingly looked at her.

Meredith bit her lip and nodded, guilty.

"Don't do that again, ok?"

"Yes," Meredith agreed silently. She took her glass of milk from Derek and they watched together her mother's tape.

Derek couldn't understand everything he watched on that tape, but it was still fascinating; that fascinating that he didn't realize when Meredith had fallen asleep beside him and nestled under his arm. He turned the TV off and slowly pulled his arm out. His job was over now. Meredith stirred a little when he stood up and Derek took her into his arms, easy as a flake, carrying her into her room.