DISCLAIMER: Grey's Anatomy is not mine, blah blah blah ...
For Cairo, because she read this one first 3
Chapter One; A Long, Sleepless Night
Meredith was walking around her bedroom looking very much like a ghost. She'd gotten little sleep in the past week, trying to help Zola adjust to a new house and a new sleep schedule, apparently. She was rocking Zola slowly, humming a song by Snow Patrol because that's all she could even begin to think of at the moment.
"Your dad," she whispered quietly. "He's the kid person. He's probably the one who knows all the nursery rhymes. I really have no idea what I'm doing."
She watched as Zola yawned and then her eyelids fluttered closed, finally. Meredith sighed quietly and laid her down in her crib, covering her over with a fluffy pink blanket given to her by Lexie. She walked downstairs to find Cristina in the kitchen, nursing a bottle of bourbon.
"You haven't been drinking that have you?" Meredith asked.
"No," Cristina scowled. "I still don't know that I want the baby but that doesn't mean I'm going to drink it into oblivion so that it'd have four legs and two faces in utero."
"Good," Meredith said, sitting down and reaching for the tequila.
"Hey," Cristina said. "If I can't drink, you can't drink."
"Seriously?" Meredith whined. "I have been up with Zola every night for the past week, and Derek still isn't returning my phone calls, I have the freaking flu and you still won't let me drink?"
"Nope," Cristina said, walking into the living room and turning on the stereo. "Dance it out. Oh look, Hall and Oates, perfect."
"If the music wakes up the baby, I will kill you," Meredith said, starting to move her hips slowly to the music.
Within minutes, the two were jumping around the living room, their hair flying free and lip-synching the words to the song as if their lives depended on it.
"You make my dreams come true," Cristina crooned, dancing towards Meredith.
Just then, the front door swung open, and Meredith assumed it was Owen who had come by every night for the last week, pleading with Cristina to keep the baby. She kept dancing until she saw Cristina looking at her.
"That one's yours," Cristina said, pointing her finger at the figure in the doorway, before she left the room to walk upstairs.
Meredith turned to find Derek standing in the doorway, his hair wet with the rain and looking like he hadn't shaved since she saw him last, a week ago.
"You have Zola?" he asked.
"Hi Derek," Meredith said. "It's nice to see you too. Where have you been?"
"I've been at the house," Derek said.
"This is the house Derek," Meredith said calmly. "Where our bedroom is? Your clothes? The post-it, framed above our bed?"
"You know what I mean," he muttered. "I've been sleeping up at the house, or in the trailer if it rains. Do you have Zola?"
"Yes Derek," she said quietly. "I have Zola. She's asleep in her crib upstairs, where she has been every night for the past week."
Derek looked over Meredith, and even through his quiet anger he could still see the deep circles under Meredith's eyes and that she'd lost weight in just the past week. He wavered inside, but the rage came flooding back.
"And you didn't think to tell me that we got granted temporary custody of her?" he said angrily.
"Keep your voice down," Meredith said. "We have a sleeping baby upstairs. And I tried to call you, Derek. I can't control whether you pick up the phone or not."
"Jesus, Mer!" he shouts. "She's our daughter, you have to tell me these things!"
With that, Meredith heard a whimper turn into a full-blown scream as Zola started to cry upstairs.
"You have to leave," she told Derek. "You have to leave now."
"I'll go settle her," he said guiltily, immediately calm after his outburst.
"No," Meredith replied, starting to walk up the stairs. "You won't. Because it's the middle of the night, and she hasn't seen you for a week. She needs stability and routine. You can come and see her in the morning."
"Fine," he said wearily, running a hand through his hair. "Fine."
She watched his back as he trudged towards the door, and all she really wanted to do was run to him and wrap her arms around him, fitting into that nook under his chin. All she wanted to do was apologise, and hug him and have some terribly hot make-up sex on the kitchen counter. But instead, she turned her back and listened to the door slam, and walked upstairs to her baby.
"Zola," she whispered quietly, as she gathered the baby up in her arms. "It's alright. Mummy's here, and Daddy will be back in the morning, I'm sure. We both love you, you know. I hope you know."
She rocked Zola until they were both half-asleep and then she laid her on the bed, supported either side by pillows as Zola fluttered into a deep sleep. Cristina was sprawled out on Derek's side of the bed, snoring softly. Finally, Meredith walked into the bathroom, sank to the floor and started to cry. An hour later, with shiny trails down her cheeks from the tears and a very red face, she pulled herself up and looked in the mirror. Bloodshot eyes, puffy cheeks, stringy hair. She was badly in need of a shower. She looked down at the basin and grabbed the piece of plastic, holding it up in front of her face.
A pink plus sign, staring her right in the face.
"It had to be now," she murmured, pushing her bangs out of her face. "I can't even take care of myself at the moment, let alone Zola, and now, another baby. Fantastic."
The door opened quickly and she spun around, holding the pregnancy test out in front of her like a sword.
"Holy crap," Cristina said. "Are you pregnant?"
So that's it – my second fanfiction. This first chapter was fairly short as it's more of an introduction into the start of the story, but the next chapters I plan to be a bit longer. It's a bit different, and I'm hoping to continue but I really want some feedback as to whether people would be interested seeing this story continue on more? So please review and tell me your thoughts!
