Hi all! Well I decided to write a quick story for the holidays. For those of you who know me from my other story "Louder Than Words," I apologize. I know it's been a loooong time since I've updated. Life got very crazy this year, job, no job, back to a job… but the good news is I only have two chapters left and I plan on updating it in a couple weeks (yes, I'm working on it concurrently! :).
In the meantime, I wanted to write this one for Christmas. It's been a lousy year and I just thought it would be fun to write something a little lighter. The holidays have been busy so I haven't had as much time with this as I would have liked. It's not gonna be as polished as LTW (and definitely not as long!). But if you like that story, I think you'll like this one. It's set during the holidays in 2015. I don't want to say too much about it. Just read on and enjoy! And if you're feeling extra nice, please leave a review. :)
CHAPTER ONE - THE PLANE
She hated planes.
Really… Truly.
She hated them.
It was a bad way to start the trip, she knew, standing at the window of the airport, staring at the plane, hating it… the engines that looked so fragile, the wings that could seemingly snap into pieces. Honestly, her extreme dislike was rather silly, her concerns unwarranted. Lexie would have told her that. The odds of anything happening were… some number Meredith couldn't actually calculate. The drive to the airport had been far more risky. Still, she always felt just a hint of nausea surveying that gleaming metal, wondering about the people who'd worked on it and the ones who'd be sitting in the cramped cockpit.
She'd have to get over it.
Especially today.
There was no way around it.
"Mom!"
A small hand began tugging at her. It was Zola, of course. Her sweet daughter with all that curiosity… and so, so many questions.
"Mom, is Santa gonna be able to find us?"
She should have been prepared for that one. They'd spent so many weeks discussing the jolly man in the red suit. Zola was excited, Bailey was absolutely over the moon. Why the hell hadn't she thought to pack all their presents? Screw the extra baggage costs. She could have paid and juggled and made it all work. But the call had come out of nowhere, woken her up in fact. She hadn't had time to plan. And now her kids were gonna be disappointed. In a year that had already sucked, one of insane work schedules and plenty of last minute calls to the babysitter, she was going to break their poor little hearts.
Hell with it… The stores had to be open the week before Christmas. She'd squeeze a shopping trip in there somehow.
"Of course, Zo." She flashed a smile full of confidence. "Santa always finds us."
"I'm gonna getta truck?" Bailey yanked on her other hand, demanding equal attention.
"Have you been good?"
He froze for a second, his beautiful eyes rolling to one side. And then came the grin. God, she loved that grin.
"Yeah!"
He jumped into the air, nearly yanking her arm out of her socket. All Meredith could do was laugh. It felt good to laugh. She was exhausted, alone, standing at the airport with four bags and two children… Why wasn't Derek here? He should have come home. He should have been helping her.
"What'd you ask for?" Zola fixed her gaze on her mother. "From Santa? Did'ya think of something?"
"I did…" Meredith played coy. She wasn't quite ready to share her own Christmas list. There was only one thing on it, one thing she desperately wanted. But at this very moment, it seemed so far off.
"Do you think you'll get it?"
Zola gave her a shy smile. She was apparently unsure whether her mother had earned it. Meredith's moods hadn't been all that great lately. Single parenthood… it was tough. She'd tried, but there had been stumbles along the way. She'd yelled and cried and silently cursed her sister for leaving her… cursed her husband as well. It was the holidays, dammit. This was supposed to be easier.
"Do I think I'll get it?"
Meredith repeated her daughter's question. A happy Christmas for all of them… together, safe… that was it, her only request.
"I hope so…"
She squeezed her daughter's hand as a voice over the loudspeaker called up their boarding group.
"I really hope so."
The flight attendants were all decked out in Santa hats. They sang a hasty version of "Frosty The Snowman" as the plane taxied down the runway. Thankfully, they'd fit the emergency procedures in there as well, though these had been delivered in a dull monotone instead of a peppy musical number. Meredith had listened carefully, shushed the children as the people in uniforms described exit doors and oxygen masks. In some ways, it was ridiculous. If the plane suddenly ripped in half, if the back end came off and they plummeted from the sky, the oxygen masks weren't going to do much. Even so, she felt better being prepared.
She hated planes.
There was snow swirling in the breeze as they finally took off. The pilots gunned the engines and the plane surged forward, the seats trembling a bit as they got up to speed. All the while, Zola had her nose pressed to the window. Next to her, Bailey squirmed for a better view. He was gathering up his legs, trying to kneel on the seat.
"Bailey, sit down please."
Meredith placed a hand firmly on his shoulder. He started to protest, but she gave him her best motherly glare.
"Santa only brings things to good boys and girls."
"But I wanna see…"
His bottom lip came out naturally. The tears would come next.
"You will, kiddo," she promised him. "You guys can switch off once that sign changes."
She gestured to the seatbelt sign up above them.
"When the pilot says it's safe, that light will go off and then you can change seats with your sister."
She waited for Zola's head to turn. Had her daughter missed that or was she simply ignoring her?
"Did you hear me, Zo?"
"Yeah…"
Zola gave a frustrated sigh. It had never occurred to her that she might not get to keep her prime seat. But to her credit, she didn't debate the issue. She just leaned back as far as she could, allowing her baby brother a glimpse of the clouds.
"Tonight, Santa's gonna be flying up here!"
"Ina sleigh?"
"Yeah. And the reindeer'll come too!"
The children had fully embraced the magic of the holidays. Their eyes were bright, their voices full of wonder… Meanwhile, Meredith was a bundle of nerves. She couldn't concentrate or think beyond the next couple hours.
It had to be Christmas Eve, didn't it? Not in January as she'd planned… Not on that lovely little date with the X on her calendar, the one she'd prepared for… the one she'd told the chief about when she'd requested time off. It always went like this. The phone would ring and, just like that, her life was upended. More chaos, more struggling to discern the good news from the bad… So much could go wrong. That was the number one lesson in life.
So much could go wrong.
Truthfully, her own inconvenience paled in comparison to her other concerns.
Dammit, Derek…
She closed her eyes.
You were supposed to be here for this…
She had to admit she was worried, scared even. The plane had no Wifi… Out of all the planes in the whole freakin' country, she'd found herself on the one with no Wifi. It was almost like she was being paid back. She hated planes and, as it turned out, they hated her. But being detached, disconnected at this very moment? It was torturous. There was so much she wanted to know… So much she needed to know. She didn't do well in the dark. If Derek were here, he would laugh and joke and make her feel better.
But he wasn't.
She was alone with Zola and Bailey, battling against her growing fears.
It's happening too fast…
At least the kids were on good behavior. She'd love to believe it was her fantastic parenting, her rules and gentle discipline, but she was well aware that Santa was probably the better enforcer today. Santa and his ever-present threat of banishing bad children to the naughty list. Oh what the hell, she'd take it… happily. There had to be one good reason to fly on this day.
She wondered if she could dare take a nap. She'd woken up… when? She couldn't even remember. She'd barely been asleep when her cell had started humming. Thank god she'd actually heard it. There had been bags to pack, insanely expensive plane tickets to buy, disheveled children to drag from their beds…
Maybe just five minutes… assuming her anxiety would release her for that long. She'd need the sleep. Once they reached their destination, she'd be out of luck. Zola could watch her brother. She'd grown more mature over the last few months, more protective. And their plane would keep flying… up in the clouds.
She heard a ding… then the pilot's crackling voice.
"We've now reached 30,000 feet, just passing over Idaho."
Meredith cringed and kept her eyes closed as the plane began to tilt.
"There may be some light turbulence ahead, so I'm going to keep the seatbelt sign on for now, just as a precaution. We should pass through it in the next five minutes."
"Momma…"
Bailey had heard that magic word, "seatbelt."
"I wanna see…"
She should have sat by the window, she realized. But she'd had visions of the children running up and down the aisles, like tiny barbarians. Angry scowls from her fellow passengers, startled flight attendants…
"Momma…" A clammy, little hand patted hers. "Momma…"
"Bailey," she exhaled, opening her eyes. "The light's still on, isn't it?"
He was staring at her, mussed hair, pink cheeks… that huge smile he'd inherited from his father.
"Gonna sit with you then."
He reached his arms out to her. And damned if her heart didn't melt then and there. And for a precious few minutes, her stress melted with it. It was almost annoying how often this happened. Before she'd become a parent, she hadn't understood. She could remember being with Cristina once, listening to some patient in the clinic going on and on about her kids, their hilarious quirks, their sweet personalities… She and Cristina had made faces at each other, quietly snickered. The sarcastic comments had come later in the locker room.
And now… now Meredith was one of those people. It was as if her soul had woken up, seen the sunshine through those ever-present clouds. Her marriage to Derek was a high point in life, but the kids… the kids were her everything. Laughter, smiles, all the good things came much faster these days. But the bad things seemed to come faster too. She just had to be on guard…
It'll be okay... When we get there, it'll be okay.
"Come here…"
She unlatched her seatbelt, just for a second, hoping Bailey wouldn't call her on it. But no, he was too busy crawling into her lap. He snuggled close as she latched him in with her. If the turbulence got too bad, she'd send him back to his own seat.
But for now she was only too happy to rest her chin on his head and rock him to sleep.
Tapping…
Meredith could hear it, off in the distance. She was in a forest… a beautiful forest that smelled of moss and pine needles. Planes buzzed above her, but not her plane. Her plane was… gone. Where? Where else would a plane be if not in that bright, blue sky that hovered above her? Nothing made sense here. She was alone, cold... dressed only in her resident scrubs. She was yelling names through the frigid air. She was waiting for voices to answer her back.
But all she ever got was the tapping. It was getting louder and louder as the minutes ticked by. She stumbled along, searching for the source.
Tap… tap… tap…
How had she gotten here?
Tap… tap… tap…
How would she get home?
Tap… tap… tap…
"Mom."
The voice grabbed her.
"Mom!"
"What?"
Meredith woke with a start. She blinked a few times, trying to get her bearings. Bailey remained in her arms, his body limp, heavy. His deep breathing told her that he was asleep. Zola still sat in the window seat, tapping Bailey's seatbelt against the armrest.
"Zola…" Meredith rubbed her face. "Honey, why on earth are you doing that?"
"What?" Zola looked down at the seatbelt she held. Guilt briefly marred her adorable features as she quickly dropped it. "Oh, I don't know."
"There are other people on the plane, Zo," Meredith reminded her. "We have to think about that."
"I'm sorry…"
Meredith just shook her head. Her brain felt all fuzzy and her body ached from Bailey's continued presence. She loved her little boy to pieces, but the kid was like a sack of potatoes, one that had pushed her spine into an awkward position.
"What do you need, honey?"
She could tell she'd been dreaming, but the location, the storyline, whatever had happened, it had drifted off… never quite captured in the memory banks. For a brief moment, she was grateful. Probably a nightmare caused by the stress.
Let it be…
"Were you dreamin'?" Zola asked, as if on cue.
"Yeah, I think so…."
Meredith stretched her free arm up towards the ceiling. That was it. The last remnants of her dream and whatever emotions had come along with it, were lost forever.
"But I'm up now." She cleared her throat. "What did you need, Zo?"
"How much longer?"
"What?"
"Til we get there? How much longer?"
"I'm not sure." Meredith unlatched her belt and carefully lifted Bailey into his own seat. "I have no idea where we are."
She secured her son, giving an extra tug on his seatbelt, then peered out the window. The clouds had disappeared and she saw nothing but green below. The forest… It was gorgeous, untouched, even by the ice and snow-
Zola snapped the window shut.
"I'm bored…"
"You're what?" The abrupt segue caused Meredith's head to spin. But thankfully, her years of parenting had taught her to adapt. She replayed Zola's last words, recognizing them instantly. Parents absolutely dreaded those words.
"I thought you wanted to see outside…"
"I'm tired of outside." Zola's decent into whininess had officially begun. "I'm booored, Momma."
Meredith attempted some measure of seriousness, but inwardly, she was smiling. Her daughter's complaining was irritating and certainly something to be dealt with at a later date, but this… this was the one situation she'd expected and prepared for. She was suddenly proud of herself. Yes, she'd forgotten the kids' presents and probably half of her own clothes, but by God, she'd remembered the iPad.
"Grab your backpack." She checked that the seatbelt sign was still off as she spoke. "It's under your feet, Zo. Your headphones and iPad should be in there."
"With Elf?"
"Yes, honey, with Elf."
"Aunt Lexie's favorite movie!"
"That's the one."
Meredith finally allowed her smile to turn outward. This was a famous story in her family. Lexie had gotten the movie (complete with digital copy!) for Zola's first Christmas with them. It wasn't exactly toddler appropriate, but Lexie had made her promise to hold onto it until Zola was ready.
Now, it was her absolute favorite.
"Please put your seatbelt back on when you're done." Meredith pointed at Zola as the child readied her holiday entertainment. Zola did as she was told then slipped on her headphones, eagerly fast-forwarding to a scene partway through. And within seconds, she was off in a world all her own.
"So I'm here now… I found you, Daddy."
Meredith could hear her whispering, reciting her favorite line from the movie. Of course, it was Derek's favorite line too.
"And guess what?"
Her little voice brought tears to Meredith's eyes. It was so happy, so wonderfully sweet.
"I love you. I love you. I love yoooooou!"
Meredith reached out and brushed her daughter's cheek. Zola didn't look her way, but Meredith saw the smile spread across her face.
"Daddy loves you too, Zo."
So that's it for now… :) Where are they going? What are they up to? You shall find out soon enough! I'm hoping to update this one every couple of days. Hope you enjoy it! Please review if you get a chance! And until then… Merry Almost Christmas Guys!