Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy or any of its characters used in this story. What is written here is for entertainment purposes only. I do not make any profits from it.
613 Harper Lane. It was the address given to her by a surgical resident in Seattle Grace-Mercy West Hospital. Alex Karev, she thinks, was the name. She had stumbled inside Joe's Emerald City Bar and he helped her out. He was nice, drunk but nice.
Carolyn Shepherd knew that she was probably going to get an earful from her son if he ever found out she had come unannounced but she was willing to take it. She had come down to Seattle all the way from New York to see how the adoption was going. Derek had called, told her that he and Meredith were adopting—that Carolyn was going to be a grandmother for the umpteenth time.
Derek would call every night or just leave a text about how adorable Little Zola was. It was only recently, though, that the calling and messages had stopped.
Something was wrong and, like any mother would do, she took the first flight out. It was hard work. Her daughters wanted to come along and she thought: girls. Derek. Seattle. Problems. It wasn't a very good picture.
The taxi pulled over the driveway and paying the fee, she thanked the driver and gave him a generous tip. Telling the guy not to bother, she hauled out the overnight bag from the trunk.
So this is where they live, she thought. Well, it's better than that trailer he keeps calling a house.
She walked up to the porch and just as she knocked, the screen door swung open slightly. She looked around. This is a safe neighborhood, right? Why else would they keep the door unlocked? Telling herself that everything was fine, she pushed open the door.
The living room was a mess. A luggage laid open beside the couch and clothes were strewn everywhere.
Carolyn made a mental note to tell Derek to get a housekeeper. Being a surgeon is not an excuse to slack off inside the house!
"Hello?" she called out.
She entered the kitchen. Nobody was there. The house was about empty too, she surmised. She was about to leave and come back another time when a wail came from upstairs.
It sounded like a baby!
Leaving her bags in the kitchen, she rushed up the steps. No wonder Derek hasn't been calling her. He's too busy taking care of Little Zola!
She smiled as she tried locating the room Zola was in.
"It's okay, Zola. Ssh."
The mother stopped dead in her tracks as she listened.
"Daddy's going to come back. I promise."
She continued walking and found an open room where Meredith sat on one side of the bed. She held a phone in her hands. She watched her dial a number.
"Derek, you can't do this. I need you to come home. It's been three days, Derek! Cristina is a wreck! I'm a wreck! And I'm your wife, Derek. You can't just leave. Please come home. I need you. Zola needs you. And we really have to talk." She paused, thinking of what else she could say. "Don't make me call post-it, Derek Shepherd!"
Slowly, she hung up and reaching inside a crib took out what Carolyn thought to be the most adorable baby she's ever seen—and Carolyn Shepherd has seen a lot of babies.
"He'll come around," Meredith whispered to Zola. "I won't let you grow up without a father, Zo."
Derek Christopher Shepherd, what did you do?
Carolyn turned on her heels and, grabbing her things from the kitchen, left the house, leaving no trace or evidence whatsoever that she had come to visit.
She had no idea where her son was at the moment. So, after hailing another taxi, she decided to go to Seattle Grace-Mercy West Hospital. It seemed like the best place to start.
...
She didn't know whether it was her motherly instincts kicking in or her sixth sense as a woman but she knew right then and there that heading to the hospital was the right thing to do.
Her son sat on a bench right outside the hospital, staring at something in the distance. The somber look he held told her that he was feeling as bad as Meredith was.
She got out of the cab and with her bags approached her son.
The moment she got close enough, she spoke. "I thought you'd be here."
Derek snapped out of his gaze and gasped as he saw his mother. His look of shock was quickly replaced with that of relief; his mother was what he needed right now.
He stood up to give his mother a kiss. He took her bags from her, set them on the ground and together they sat like they did two years ago.
"How are you?" Carolyn asked him.
"I'm...worried, ma. Meredith, she's—" he shook his head and sighed.
"You can tell me," she said, taking his hand and squeezing it.
He nodded and turning to her said, "Meredith compromised the clinical trial I was heading. She knows that what she did was wrong but somehow she won't admit it! She even told me that she'd do it again, Ma! I don't think...No, I can't raise a child with someone who doesn't know the difference between right and wrong, let alone be with her."
Carolyn took a breath. This was more complicated than she had imagined. "Did you talk to Meredith? Did you give her a chance to explain herself?"
He shook his head morosely.
"You should."
"Ma, I—"
"Do you remember what I said to you? That you see things in black and white and Meredith—"
"Meredith doesn't. And that I needed that in life," he continued. "Yeah. I remember."
She stood up. "You are blind, Derek. You are blind at this moment and you know what you need—who you need." She held out her hand. "Go to her. 'Cause I know that all Meredith wants to do right now is to talk to you. She's willing to talk, Derek. You should too."
He stared at his mother's outstretched hand. He pressed his lips together and chuckled. "I don't even want to know how you know that but since you're always right I won't argue." Taking her bags in one hand and holding his mother's hand in the other they walked toward his car.
"Smart boy. But you already know that."
...
Carolyn nodded to her son. "You know what to do."
Derek took a breath and went up the stairs that led to the bedroom he shared with his wife. The moment he entered the room, he knew that he needed her. It was just the past three days that he's been out of sorts, confused, "blind" as his mother would say. Now, here he is.
"Mer," he croaked out her name.
Meredith looked up from the crib. Her eyes weren't red but rather, they were exhausted. She has been for the past three days.
"Derek! You got my calls!" she walked over and hugged him.
What calls? he wanted to ask. He hasn't turned his phone on since that night he slept at their still-under-construction dream house. But he pushed the thought aside.
"We need to talk."
She took a step back. "Okay."
"Why did you do it?" he asked.
"Because...Because Adele is like a mother to me," she said, "She took care of me while the chief and my mom screwed in an on call room. She was a mother when Ellis Grey wasn't. She was like...she was like my back up mom. I won't lose another mom to Alzheimer's, Derek. And I certainly won't let the chief go through what he went through with Ellis again." She bit her lip as she tried to control her emotions.
"Meredith I—"
"It may have been wrong for you but to me, what I did was right, Derek! And I'd do it again because I don't care if I don't have a job anymore. What matters to me is that I have a mom and Richard still has the woman he loves!"
He pressed his lips together. "Okay."
She eyed him. "Okay? That's all you can say? 'Okay?' Are you kidding me? You don't come home for three days! I'm stuck taking care of Cristina who's hormonal and husband-less because Owen kicked her out and now they hate each other and wont talk to each other! Alex moved out and we don't know where he's currently living and I've been talking to an infant who probably can't even understand what I'm saying! Mark is no longer harassing Lexie which makes Lexie come to me because she's starting to get paranoid! Teddy's in love with her husband, April is bossing us around and we can't really not listen to her because she's our Chief Resident. Plus, Callie and Arizona bring Sophia over for play dates but all Zola wants is you! And I can't find you! And just this morning I found out I'm pregnant and you aren't answering any of my calls! So now there are two hormonal women in this house! And I'm worried sick that both Zola and our baby will grow up without a father! So all you can say is okay?"
Derek watched as tears started trickling down her cheeks and she hadn't even notice. He wiped them off for her and afterwards pulled her in for a hug.
"We're going to be okay. Zola's going to be okay. You're pregnant so you're going to be okay too. Ma's probably going to be okay with two more grandkids so...okay. But Meredith, we still aren't done talking. We can't talk about everything for one day. We'll talk again tomorrow. We'll settle this one step at a time. Okay?"
"Okay." Her lips quivered as she finally let out all the tension, anger, fear and exhaustion. "I really thought you weren't coming back!"
He rubbed her back as he said, "If I didn't who'd you be calling post-it to?"
She gave a laugh. "I love you." She pulled away to give him a kiss.
"I love you too. All of you. You, our babies,"
"Babies?"
Both Meredith and Derek turned around to find Carolyn outside looking at them.
"Ma, were you listening to our—"
She waved a dismissive hand. "Just the last part, dear. Now what was that about babies?"
"I'm pregnant," said Meredith.
Carolyn's jaw dropped. She walked over to give her a hug. "I'm so happy for you!"
"Thank you!"
"Oh, honey. You deserve it."
Meredith shook her head as she took Carolyn's hand. "No. I'd like to thank you for what you did. Whatever you said to him," she indicated to Derek, "It worked."
Carolyn blushed. "Well, we can all thank the color wheel for that."
Meredith's eyebrows furrowed and she turned to Derek to explain.
He shook his head slightly. Don't ask.
Then suddenly the confusion ended as Zola let out a cry. Derek watched as both the women he loves cooed over the baby. He now knew what his mother meant by him needing Meredith.
Right now all he could see were the different shades of Meredith Grey. And yes. He needed that.
A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed the one-shot! MerDer forever!