Meredith opened the car door and made her way up the stairs to her house. The door was unlocked and the instant she entered she was able to recognize one of the songs from "The Little Mermaid," blaring loudly from the living room. She smiled, "The Little Mermaid," was her daughter's favorite show. Well, for the last two weeks it had been and Meredith had found herself subconsciously humming the tune to this particular children's show on numerous occasions in the past fortnight.
"Mommy!" the little girl smiled as she ran into the foyer excitedly. Her dark brown curls fell on her shoulders and her blue eyes seemed to brighten the room the instant her presence was made.
Meredith looked at her daughter and realized she looked even more like Derek than she had let herself believe. Even the way she smiled, it reminded her of the man.
"Katie," Meredith returned, her voice matching her daughter's enthusiasm. "I missed you today," she said truthfully. The minute she had left Derek in the stairwell she had instantly felt the need to see her daughter. Katie was a reminder that everything Meredith had been through, everything she was sure would happen over the coming days, weeks and months, was worth it. Katie was her world and she hated that she wasn't able to spend as much time with her as she wanted.
"I missed you too, Mommy," the tiny brunette answered as her mother crouched down and embraced her daughter. Her soft voice comforted Meredith and the instant Katie wrapped her arms around her mom, to Meredith it felt like things would soon fall back into place. Things would soon go back to the way they had been. Maybe that wouldn't actually be the reality, but at least her daughter gave her the needed hope that things would end up okay.
As her daughter left her arms, she took a hold of her mother's hand. This seemingly simple gesture able to make Meredith smile.
The sound of the television had been switched off and a woman walked from their living room.
"Hi Sara," Meredith smiled, greeting the younger woman.
Sara had been Katie's babysitter for years now. In fact, the amount of time she ended up spending with her daughter made her more of a nanny than anything else. She picked her daughter up from kindergarten when Meredith wasn't able to leave the hospital and got her ready in the morning if Meredith had been forced to leave. Meredith did everything she possibly could to spend as much time with her daughter but Meredith never thought it was enough.
Meredith would often arrive home after a long day at work and find Katie already asleep in bed. She hated when she wasn't able to tuck her in and tell her that she loved her. On these nights she would often lie on her daughter's twin sized bed, her arms wrapped around Katie's body as she let herself fall asleep to the peaceful lullaby of even breaths that came from the tiny girl next to her.
"Hey," Sara replied, her voice reminding her of Izzie's. Sara had a similar personality too, optimism that made you almost believe it. She was a very glass half full person and that was the kind of person Meredith wanted her daughter to be exposed to. She didn't want Katie to grow up like she had, feeling as though she was unloved, broken. Alone. If Meredith wasn't able to spend all the time she wanted to with Katie, then she at least wanted someone all 'bright and shiny' to be there with her daughter.
"I made Katie dinner, I hope you don't mind. She was hungry and she said she couldn't wait," Sara explained happily.
"Oh, of course I don't mind," she said peeking at her watch. It was ten past eight and she would have to put her daughter to bed soon. She had been aiming to leave the hospital by five thirty but a trauma patient had been admitted and she had been forced to stay. "Sorry for taking so long. I'll be able to take Katie to kindergarten tomorrow morning," she told Sara.
"Yay!" her daughter yelled from beside her.
It made Meredith feel guilty, that something so simple as driving her daughter to kindergarten excited her so much. She really didn't do it enough and right there and then she made a silent promise with herself to do it more often. She didn't want her daughter to grow up feeling like she didn't know her own mother. Meredith loved her far too much to let that happen.
"Alright, great. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon then? Bye Katie," Sara said grabbing the bag she had left on the small table beside the door.
"Bye Sara," the little girl smiled happily as her friend left the house. "Mommy, I just membered something!" she said, her voice lighting up with excitement.
"Oh yeah? What did you remember?" Meredith asked.
"Stay right here. Don't move. Promise?"
"Promise," Meredith repeated. And with that, her daughter hurried out of the room.
Meredith dropped her large handbag on the chair beside her and waited for Katie to come back. She heard her tiny feet shuffle along the wooden floorboards and into the kitchen. Before long her daughter had returned back to the foyer, holding a piece of paper against her body.
"I made you this drawing. It's us; you and me and Sara," the girl explained, pointing to each figure on her drawing. Meredith took it from her daughter's hands and examined it closely, smiling at the bright picture her daughter had made for her.
"I love it," Meredith answered honestly. "You know where I'm going to put it? Right over here," she said placing the paper on the table, maneuvering it so it stood upright, on display for any one who walked into their house. "Now, when anyone comes in, they'll be able to see it."
Her daughter took a hold of her hand and pulled Meredith into the living room, sitting her down on the sofa as she clicked play on the DVD player. Meredith picked up the remote and turned down the volume.
"How was your day?" Meredith asked, pulling her daughter onto her lap.
"Great!" Katie exclaimed. "Sara let me draw and we even made a cake. I got to lick the spoon," she said proudly. "Do you want some? I'll go get you some!"
The small girl went to move off her lap but Meredith pulled her closer, tightening her grip on her daughter. She just wanted to sit here with her.
"I'll make sure I have some later, okay?"
"Okay," she replied sounding a little disappointed. "Was your day good, too?" her daughter asked innocently, completely delirious to the fact that Meredith's day had probably been the most stressful she had endured in the past months. Years even.
"It was... surprising," she eventually said. "Definitely surprising."
She looked down at her daughter. Katie's eyes suddenly looked tired and they hung heavy. It was obvious to Meredith that Katie was tired and yet, she was still trying to keep herself awake.
"That's good..." her voice was quiet.
"I think it's bed time," Meredith whispered softly.
Katie nodded in reply and held onto her mother's shoulders tightly. Meredith stood up and began her way up the stairs, carrying her daughter in her arms. The television was still on quietly but she decided she would just come back down later to turn that off.
They reached Katie's bedroom and Meredith gently rested her daughter on the bed, pulling the covers down before she did so. She switched on the night light that was next to the bed and kissed Katie on the cheek.
"Sweet dreams, Princess," she told her daughter who looked as though she would fall asleep any second now.
"Can you stay with me for a little bit? Please, Mommy?" her tiny voice barely audible.
Meredith sat next to her and then made herself comfortable next to her daughter, wrapping her arms around her body.
"I love you, Katie."
"I love you too, Mommy," Katie answered before letting her tired state pull her into a world of unconsciousness.
Katie was everything to Meredith. She was the reason she got out of bed in the morning and everything she did, she did for her. Her daughter had asked about her father in the past and Meredith never knew quite how to answer her innocent question. She usually answered by saying she had a mommy who loved her and that was all that mattered. Katie usually left it at that, completely satisfied with having the knowledge that her mother loved her. The fact that Meredith too, didn't really know the man who was her daughter's father never seemed to matter. It didn't seem to be such a major problem, they had each other and that was all that mattered. But now. Now, the man Meredith had kicked out of her house five years ago had showed up at her hospital. He was her boss. Freaking Head of Neuro and it freaked her out.
What was she supposed to do? She was going to be working with the man, she'd be forced to see him every day and he was completely delirious to the fact that she had a daughter at home who shared his DNA. She couldn't just go right out there and tell him. "Oh hey, Derek. Remember that time when we were both really drunk and we had sex? Well, I got pregnant and now have a four year old daughter at home!" She didn't really think that would go down too well. But she also didn't think she would be able to keep her daughter a secret from him. That would just be cruel. Unfair and cruel. When all she had known was the man's first name, that had been fine. But he was her boss now. Doctor freaking Shepherd. With his dreamy smile and his stupid, perfect hair. She couldn't pretend like he didn't exist, because seeing him, facing him again, it made him real. Circumstances were dramatically different to how they had been five years ago and she had no idea what she should do.
The truth would come out at some point, Meredith was sure of that much.
A/N: Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed or added this story to your alerts list! That's what gives me the motivation to keep writing! Well, I hope you're still interested and again, reviews would be appreciated for this chapter. Thanks :]