Disclaimer: If I owned Grey's Anatomy, life would be anything but ordinary.
A/N: Just a short drabble about the ordinary life Richard and Ellis could have had together. Tell me what you think, especially since I have a harder time writing these characters. Hope you enjoy!
Ellis Webber stepped onto her front porch. She had the day off from the hospital and Richard and she had spent a gloriously lazy day in bed. It was so unlike her to do that, but he always got the best of her.
She smiled as she sun shone on her hair and she crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking out at the street.
Meredith's bike was leaning against a tree and little Richie's swing set was gently swaying in the breeze. Elizabeth's play house was resting smack dab in the middle of the yard, with the paper curtains blowing gently. Richard had offered to get her some real curtains but she'd insisted on making them herself and her material of choice was paper. It was strange, but her parents allowed it.
She was so absorbed in her thoughts she didn't hear her husband creep up behind her and she jumped a little when he wrapped his arms around her.
"Richard you scared me." She breathed before relaxing in his arms. He kissed the top of her head.
"Sorry. What are you thinking about?" He asked her softly.
She looked around the yard.
"Imagine… if you… if you hadn't left Adele, this wouldn't… we wouldn't be here. I'd still be at the old house, and Meredith would be with me. Richie and Liza wouldn't be here… no swing sets or bikes or play houses… I'd be in the hospital right now."
"Sounds similar to the life you led with Thatch…" Richard mused.
"Yes. Yes, it is." Ellis replied quietly.
He didn't know just how much that thought or that life terrified her. She couldn't imagine her life without her husband or her children anymore than she could imagine it without surgery.
The mail man came up the path and greeted them as he walked up to their porch.
"'Afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Webber." He said before handing them their mail. Ellis bit back her retort of, "It's Doctor." He was old and he often forgot these things anyway. Richard was always chastising her about being softer in her ways.
She thumbed through the letters before handing one to Richard.
"Thatcher's wedding invitation. Meredith told us he said we'd be getting it this week."
"Right, right. Who's he getting married to?"
"Susan someone… Meredith says she's very nice. But of course she baked her cookies which is always the way to her heart." Ellis chuckled a little before flipping through a catalog. Richard led her to the bench on the porch and they sat there, comparing letters and various invitations to conferences.
Suddenly they heard a scream followed by two more coming from down the block. Richard laughed and got up, going down the steps and walking down his path.
"Meredith, make sure Rich and Liza don't run in the street!" He called to his step-daughter.
Meredith was walking a fair distance behind her younger half-siblings while they chased each other up the block.
"I know Richard!" She yelled back and she quickened her pace slightly. She spotted a boy across the street, with very good hair and an amazing smile, talking with another boy equally as good looking. She blushed and looked away before they could spot her and she started to run.
"Daddy!" Richie and Elizabeth threw themselves on their father and he laughed, picking them up and swinging them around.
"And how are you two today?" He asked his children. He was bombarded with chatter and Meredith giggled as she gave him a quick hug.
"Haven't learned your lesson yet?" She smiled and he laughed shaking his head. "Guess not."
Ellis smiled at her family before tossing the magazine aside and getting up to greet her children.
"Hi, Mommy." Meredith said softly as she wrapped her arms around her mother's waist. Ellis hugged her daughter back tightly. She squeezed her a little before letting go and looking her in the eye.
"How was school?"
"Fine Mom." She said.
"Did you get too much homework?"
"No Mom." Meredith rolled her eyes slightly and the corners of Ellis's mouth twitched slightly.
"Good. How'd you do in science?"
"Mom!" Meredith exclaimed.
"Ell, leave the poor kid alone." Richard told her as he walked up the path, holding his daughter's hand and holding his son in his arm.
Ellis frowned slightly before going to greet her other two children. She kissed her Richie's cheek, causing him to squeal and she picked Liza up, bouncing her slightly.
She hated that there would be a time when they were too big to do this with.
Meredith ran ahead and put her back pack on the porch before going to her bike and lifting the kick stand.
"Mom, I'm going for a ride." She called and Ellis stopped in her tracks.
"Where?"
"Mom!"
"Meredith, listen to your mother." Richard said sternly. She sighed.
"I'm going to a friend's house and then we're going to go the library."
"Which friend?" Richard asked.
"Cristina." She answered. Richard made a face while Ellis nodded to show her approval. "I like that girl. She's going to be an excellent surgeon one day." Ellis said.
"She's too harsh. She's thirteen years old yet you'd think she was thirty-one. She told me that I'd—"
"Yes, Richard we know, a thirteen year old girl outsmarted you." Ellis interrupted and Meredith laughed.
"No one's smarter than daddy." Liza said. Richard smiled his thanks at his daughter.
"Thank you hon."
Ellis looked back at Meredith. "Be back by six, and don't do anything else but go to her house, the library and back, do you hear me?"
"Thanks mom!" Meredith yelled as she swung her leg over her bike and rode it out the gate.
Ellis shook her head at her daughter before the four remaining members of the family went inside.
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Ellis got ready for bed that night, slowly combing her hair. Tomorrow would be a long day at the hospital to make up for the time she had lost that day. Meredith had come home at six on the dot. She'd always enjoyed risk-taking. All three children had sat and done their homework, with much more complaining on Richie's part than the girls', and then they'd had a small bit of ice cream that Richard had insisted upon before going to bed.
This was the fairy tale life. The ordinary life that Ellis had never wanted. Before Richard she had been strong and passionate about everything in her life. She hadn't wanted ordinary, she wanted to be extraordinary. Now she was ordinary and truthfully? She didn't mind it. Because she was happy and she came home every single night to the love of her life. She lived in a wonderful house with her wonderful family and she wouldn't trade it for the world. She would have never thought that this would be her future but it was.
Richard came in and she placed her comb down. They settled down into bed and he put his arm around her.
Just like every night before, he leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Thank you for fighting for me."
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"Dr. Grey? Dr. Grey, it's time to get up."
Ellis opened her eyes slowly and looked around at the plain room.
"Good morning Dr. Grey." A cheery assistant said to her. Ellis glared at her. Another dream. A dream of the life she could have had, and now she woke up and she wasn't even really awake.
"Don't just stand there, go and prep my OR." She snapped.
"And life would be so perfectly ordinary."
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A/N: Nothing more than drabble. I've been obsessed with this scene lately and the whole ordinary line so I decided to write something about that ordinary life. I had a hard time writing them. Not only do I not write them a lot, I had to write them together and happy, and with a family of their own. I did my best… hope you guys liked it!
I'm thinking about maybe making this a double or triple parter… just to go through all of the "ordinary" parts of life they talked about.
Like I said, drabble. Not much to explain here. But if you do have any questions or concerns, you know what to do!
Thanks for reading, please review!!
-Meredith