Chapter 1, Age 5
"Mommy, when I get married who will walk me down the aisle?"
Meredith looked at her five year old daughter, who was already wondering how the absence of a father would affect her later in life.
"I don't know Em, who do you want to walk you down the aisle?" Emily looked down towards the ground, knowing exactly who she wanted to walk her down the aisle. After not responding to her question and knowing for certain why, Meredith tried to suggest some other people. "What about Uncle Burke?"
Emily made a weird face, so Meredith tried again, "Uncle George?"
"I guess he'll do," the five year old said sadly, walking off to her room.
A few minutes later Meredith followed, going into her daughter's room. She found her lying on her bed looking intently at a picture of her father. Meredith came over to the bed and sat down on it. "You know there are better pictures of him."
"Yeah, where?" she asked, looking up from the picture for the first time since her mother had entered the room.
"Lay off the attitude and come with me," she said, holding out her hand. Emily, still upset didn't take it and decided to just follow her mother instead. Meredith went into her room, Emily close behind. She opened her closet and reached up to the top shelf which contained all of the old photo albums as Emily waited impatiently on the bed. She finally found the photo album she was looking for and took it down, walking over to where Emily was sitting. Meredith propped up the pillows, motioning for her daughter to come over. Em scooted over and sat next to her mother, as Meredith opened up the photo album. She turned to the first page. "This is your daddy when he was a baby," Mer said, showing Emily the pictures.
They looked and looked, Meredith reliving the sadness that he was gone and Emily relishing the pictures of the father she never knew. They were getting close to the end of the photo album now, up the pictures of their engagement. "That's me and Daddy right after he proposed to me," Meredith said, remembering the night. In the picture they both looked so happy, Derek smiling and she admiring her ring.
"Daddy looks happy," she said, leaning in closer to look at the picture.
"We both were," Meredith said flipping the page. As soon as she flipped it, she flipped it back. "That's all sweetie," Meredith said to her daughter.
"But there's more."
"You don't wanna see those pictures."
"Why?"
Not knowing another way to explain it and knowing she couldn't win against her five year old, Meredith opened the book back up. "These are pictures of Daddy in the hospital." Emily looked at he pictures taken from the police report after the accident.
"What happened?" she asked. "Did he ever get better?"
"No sweetie, he didn't."
"Then where is he?"
"Daddy's in heaven."