Meredith had just put the children to bed.
The evening had gone better than she had hoped.
Announcing to your children that you're dating someone other than their dad was a difficult thing to do.
But they had responded rather well.
Zola and Bailey had asked a few questions while Ellis remained focused on her chocolate ice cream.
Meredith smiled, thinking of the recklessness of her youngest daughter.
Her children were her greatest treasure.
Several years ago, she had struggled to consider becoming a mother but now she didn't see her life without them.
They were the result of her great love with Derek. They were the last things that hung up on him.
They were so fantastic, exhausting but incredible.
They were all different too.
Zola, although she was not their biological daughter had absorbed their personality. She was stubborn like her mother and obstinate like her father. She was also of great intelligence and maturity that sometimes hurt Meredith's heart.
She was their first child, the starting point of their family together.
Bailey, he was their baby miracle. He had pointed the tip of his nose when they didn't expect it.
He was a very funny little boy. He enjoyed everything. He was very sociable and conveyed his good mood to anyone.
He looked a lot like Meredith, although he had the character of his father.
Meredith was sometimes surprised to find facial expressions of her half-sister lexie on the face of her son like that way to roll up his nose.
And then there was Ellis. Her little girl, her little baby who had arrived at the worst moment of her life. Meredith was a little angry at herself because she had hesitated to keep her when she found out she was pregnant, just a few days after the funeral.
Her doubts had quickly disappeared and now she loved her so much. She was sweet, shy and did not speak much. She was very close to Alex.
According to the people and especially Richard, she was the spitting image of Meredith at the same age, aside from the eyes.
She had her father's eyes. Exactly the same. It was quite distracting sometimes.
Knowing that her children were open to Meredith having someone else in her life, made her happy...
And she didn't think she will be again.
As unexpected as possible, Meredith was happy with Andrew. He was kind, attentive, extremely sexy and a little too romantic for her taste but it pleased her more and more.
And above all, he was good in bed, very talented.
At first she had been a little skeptical. She didn't know if she was ready to bring someone into her life again. Someone who doesn't know anything about her.
She had never admitted it, but her breakup with Nathan had affected her.
After all, Andrew, he was younger about 9 years old and he was her student. But he was Italian and he had a crazy charm. This was one of the main reasons that convinced her.
He had been able to make her feel things she believed buried forever after Derek's death.
He surprised her all the time and his smile made her melt.
She sometimes felt like a teenager again.
It had been several months since they "officially" dating together and she had already been attached to him.
Maybe more than she wanted.
She lay down in her bed, in underwear. She thought about the good day she had today. An incredible sex in the early morning, a day to juggle between her lab work and a birth case with Andrew and a special moment with her children.
She fell asleep serenely and quickly enough that night.
Maybe the "dark and twisty" Meredith was gone after all.
Or maybe she was waiting for the sky to darken again.