"I have an idea… I'll give you a photo of him and you can look at it whenever you're feeling sad and missing him. Do you want?" It was Marie's turn to nod. Meredith sat Marie in the other side of the bed and returned minutes later with a photo, which she handed to Marie. Marie looked at the man in the photo and frowned…
"This is not my daddy!" she exclaimed looking at her mom
"Yes it is baby… he's Finn, your daddy…"
"No! Daddy doesn't look like him..." Meredith was confused…
"Honey…" Marie interrupted her
"This is my father… 'cause auntie Izzie explained it to me when I saw a photo of you with him in an album… but he's not my daddy! And I miss my daddy…" Meredith was now more confused than ever.
"Sweetie you don't have two daddies…"
"I have a father and a daddy…" Marie answered quickly
"And… what are their names? Can you tell me?" Meredith was a bit suspicious about what Marie was going to say but she wanted to hear it from her.
"My father is Finn Dandridge and my daddy is Derek Shepherd…" Marie confirmed Meredith's suspicious.
"Baby… Derek is not your daddy."
"But he is your boyfriend isn't he? Marie asked hopefully
"Who told you that sweetie?"
"Auntie Christina did… but mommy, he is your boyfriend isn't he?"
"Yeah baby but…"
"Can Derek be my daddy?" She said while nodding and smiling sweetly
"Derek loves you too baby but we don't know if he wants to be your daddy…" Meredith knew Derek loved Marie… they had started dating when Marie was two and since then Derek and Marie had built a strong connection. Now Marie was 4 and a half, they had a relationship almost like father and daughter but, still, Meredith didn't know if Derek wanted something more. Now he was in Spain for almost 4 months and Marie was missing him… she, herdelf, was too, but Marie was the one who was suffering more with his absence. Derek had the opportunity to work for a year with a group of world-renowned neurosurgeons and Meredith forced him to go saying it would be good for him to work with surgeons of his level but it was becoming harder and harder to live without him.
"Can I ask him mommy?" she whispered… but Meredith didn't reply. She didn't know what to say. She kissed her daughter's forehead "Let mommy talk to Derek first ok baby?" Marie nodded and snuggled closer to her mother.
