Meredith was running around the house making sure all her paperwork was together and that Grace's information as well as bags were packed for Grace's trip with her friend Lauren and her family.
Grace sat on a bar stool on the island in the kitchen eating her morning cereal
"Mom, you look insane" Grace remarked smirking at her clearly flustered mother
Meredith glanced at her watch for the 15th time in the past 10 minutes
"Mom, just go, Lauren's family is running late and I'm fine" Grace assured her
"No, I told the chief I would be running late this morning… I thought you said they would be here at 9?"
"Yeah, they're a little behind, in fact they haven't even left their house yet" Grace said taking a huge bite of her cereal.
Meredith groaned, she wanted to be there when her daughter's friend picked her up but it was already 9:45 and she had an important case today. Meredith constantly battled between her career and being a present mom. Her biggest fear in life was turning into Ellis Grey and since Grace's father had decided that he didn't want to be in the picture, she had to double time the parenting. Of course she always had Mark's help and Mark practically raised Grace as his own, but still he wasn't Grace's father and no matter how much time he spent with Grace, he never would be.
"Okay sweetie, your passport, my credit card, and your insurance card are all in the side zipper of your suitcase. I packed you some extra clothes, just in case you need them. Call me when you get there and call me before you go to bed"
"Okaaaay mom" Grace remarked trying to her hurry her mom along, after all she did have a plane to catch to D.C at 12.
Meredith rushed over and kissed her daughter on top of her head, her coffee thermos, brief case and lab coat were all in her hands as she juggled to hug Grace.
"I love you mommy" Grace said softly when her mom was almost out the door.
Meredith jogged back over and wrapped her arm around her daughter
"I love you, more than anything" Meredith said with a loving look and then went to leave again
"Oh yeah and don't talk to strangers" Meredith said as she was at the door
"Mommmmm" Grace whined
"Okay, I'm leaving. Bye" and with that Meredith was out the door and making her way to her jeep.
Grace hurriedly got her bags together and called a cab to take her to the airport, she was running very, very late. She made it on the plane just in time for a short 45 minute flight to D.C.
Grace spent the majority of her flight in deep thought, she had always dreamed about the day she would meet her father and the fact that today would most likely be that day, had Grace on edge. She looked down at the outfit she chose to wear today, a long sleeve maroon top, a black high wasted skirt, with a pair of black panty hose and her old white converse's. Her mom had tried to buy her a new pair of the shoes a ton of times but Grace refused to wear anything other than her old ones, she said they had character and she would not get rid of them.
After 45 minutes of Grace's intense thoughts centered around her father, the plane finally reached destination and suddenly Grace was alone in an unfamiliar city with only one mission in mind.
Back in New York
"Hey, there you are" Mark said finding Meredith after her consult
"Hey" Meredith said checking her phone for the umpteenth time that hour
"You okay there?" Mark asked
"Yeah, I'm just worried about Grace, this is her first trip without me or you"
"Mer, she's a good kid, she'll be fine" Mark assured her
"I know, I'm just worried about her" Meredith said sighing
"She's been a little distracted lately" Mark agreed
"I don't know what's going on with her, she's been so quiet which is unlike her, she's very chatty"
Mark looked away guiltily which didn't go unnoticed by Meredith
"What do you know?" Meredith demanded
"Nothing, I know what you know" Mark said sheepishly
"Mark" Meredith demanded looking him in the eye
Mark scratched the back of his head, if his pager could go off right at this second that would be a God-send but there was no such luck.
"The other week, Grace asked me about Derek"
Meredith crossed her arms over her chest and became defensive
"What all did you tell her?" she asked angrily
"Meredith, she's getting older we can't shield her from him forever. She wants to know about him and maybe it's time we tell her the truth" Mark countered
"Tell her what exactly Mark? That her own father didn't want her. That he has some other family who he loves more than her. Absolutely not"
"When you put it like that… But maybe we soften the blow. Tell her that it was complicated but that he loves her, because I'm sure deep down, Derek does love her" Mark defended a little. Mark hated Derek probably much more than Meredith did, but he loved his "niece" more than he hated Derek and he could see that night she asked that Grace wanted to know her father.
"No" Meredith stated and Mark could tell her opinion was not going to change anytime soon.
"I know what it's like to be rejected by your own father and I promised myself that Grace would never have to feel that rejection. I don't want her knowing that Derek knows she's out there somewhere in the world and he doesn't care" Meredith said tears welling in her eyes.
If there was one thing Meredith loved in the world it was her daughter and she would never forgive herself if she ever caused Grace the pain that her own traumatic childhood caused her.
Mark looked at Meredith sympathetically and put his arm around her
"I don't want my daughter to become dark and twisty" Meredith said in a whisper
Mark laughed a little "Chatty Kathy is never going to become Dark and Twisty. She has Shepherd genes, it's fundamentally impossible"
Just then Meredith's pager went off
"I got to go" she told Mark
"Just think about it Mama Grey, the older she gets, the more curious she is going to become" Mark shouted after her taking a sip of the coffee he completely forgot about when he walked over.
Back in D.C
Once the plane landed, Grace was lost, she needed to find a hotel, she needed to figure out how to find the presidential office where her father worked and she needed to go over her lines again of what she was going to say.
She wasn't sure what she was going to say, of course she wanted to tell him that she was his daughter but that wasn't the best idea, considering her mom and Uncle Mark had no idea what was going on. Her first task on the agenda though was finding a hotel.
She saw a high-end hotel right across the street and made her way over. Her mom did give her, her credit card and if Grace knew one thing; it was that financially her mother wasn't hurting. Being a renowned surgeon had it perks, and one of those perks was being way more than just financially stable.
"Hi, I need to rent a room for the next 3 days" Grace said confidently as she approached the desk to the fancy hotel right in the middle of downtown D.C.
"Are you 18 years of age, miss?" A French receptionist asked with an eyebrow raised
"No" Grace chimed
"Sorry sweetie, come back with a parent or guardian and then we can help you"
"I have a credit card" Grace said pulling out the platinum card.
"Sorry" the receptionist said losing interest fast
Grace paused and thought for a moment "How familiar are you with Derek Shepherd, Dr. Derek Shepherd?" Grace quizzed the receptionist.
He shrugged "Never heard of him" the receptionist said his demeanor never changing.
"Well, um Dr. Shepherd works for the president, and that's a huge deal. He's my uhh Uncle and I'm surprising him for a visit. My mom was supposed to reserve us a room but she's caught up in surgery, you know how surgeons are, too busy saving lives. Anyway I really need a room to visit my Uncle Derek who basically is the president of this entire countries right hand man" Grace rambled
The receptionist raised his eyebrow "Unless you suddenly turn eighteen or have a parent to check you in, I cannot help you"
An older man who was beside Grace checking out of the hotel seemed interested in Grace's case when he heard the mention of Derek Shepherd. Derek Shepherd in his opinion was a very professional man who was thoroughly depressed. He liked Dr. Shepherd, the two of them had very intense conversations centered on their jobs of brain mapping. However anytime he brought up anything personal or asked anything about Derek's wife or son, Derek became very closed off. He learned long ago not to bring up Derek's personal life, obviously he had some deep rooted issues involving it.
Grace sighed "Excuse me, this young lady is trying to visit her uncle who is a dear friend of mine and does work for the president of the United States. You will give her a room immediately" the older gentleman said in a biting tone. Maybe seeing his niece would make Derek perk up and pull him out of his miserable shell he usually lived in.
Grace grinned at him.
"I'm sorry I can't do that, it's against policy"
The man pulled out his white house pass "You see that, I work closely with the president and I wouldn't want to have to let the press know what bad service I received at this very hotel…I do believe our V.I.P's ALWAYS stay here" the man warned
"I'll get you a room right away miss"
"Thank you" Grace said genuinely to the man who helped
"My pleasure, your Uncle is a good friend of mine, we've been working together for well over 3 years, a broody man, but a good man. I'm sure he'll be very happy to see you, in fact I'm on my way to the lab now, I'll have to let him know I ran into you" the man said putting his arm around Grace
"No" Grace almost yelled
"It's a surprise, I'm going to sneak up on him…or something" Grace recovered
"My lips are sealed" the man said with a smile
"Thank you, and thanks again for helping me before"
"You're welcome, I'm sure I'll see you later" the man said with a smile before he left.
Grace made her way into her hotel room and plopped down on her bed. Reality was now setting in, she was going to meet her father, sometime within the next few hours. She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding and she thought about all the different ways it could go. She didn't even know if she was going to tell him the truth, if she told him, her mom and Uncle Mark would find out she lied and she would be grounded no doubt. Also if she told him who knows how he would react. From the way her Uncle Mark acted she assumed Derek had no idea about her existence, maybe he would be happy.
However she couldn't help but think about the rejection she would feel if he wanted nothing to do with her, he already had a family and already had a kid. Maybe he didn't want another one. Those were the thoughts that occupied her mind before she drifted to sleep.
"Damn-it" Derek yelled at his young intern who was helping him on the brain mapping. They were currently dissecting the DNA sequencing of the brain and studying the genetic makeup of a person who developed Alzheimer's early in life.
"You just destroyed a section of viable DNA that I could have used. I wanted this sequencing finished by the end of the week and now it's postponed" Derek yelled venomously
"I'm so sorry Dr. Shepherd" the intern said clearly scared. Anytime the intern worked with Derek he was always in a bad mood, for a man who seemed to have such a sexy wife and successful son he was surprised Dr. Shepherd wasn't more happy or self- aware.
"Just go. I don't need any interns. I'd be better off if a dog assisted me" Derek choked ripping the gloves off of his hands and making his way out of the sterile room that was set up much like and operating room. The intern quickly fled as well.
"I'll be in my office" Derek told the older receptionist Costella whose desk was on the floor where Derek worked every day.
He made his way into his office and pulled out the sandwich he had bought earlier as he hit the button on his answering machine to listen to the messages he knew he had received in the past 6 hours.
"Hey Derek, it's me. I'm working late at the hospital tonight and today was Pey's last day of school for break, maybe you could get off early and spend some time with him. Bye" the first one from Addison said.
Then the next two came through, but those were only business calls. Derek seemed satisfied with his messages and proceeded to eat his sandwich.
He was fuming, today was one of his "bad days" as his therapist called it. About a year ago his son had an all-out confrontation with Derek. He told Derek that he hated him and that he wished he wasn't his father and that he spent the majority of his childhood hating Derek and that he wasn't going to do it anymore. Peyton wanted to disown Derek as his father. That was a wakeup call for Derek, he tried to make amends with Peyton over the past year and their relationship was a bit better. He began seeing a therapist to work through his anger, he came a long way in therapy but some days were much worse than others and today was one of those.
"Dr. Shepherd, there is someone here requesting to speak to you, can I buzz her in?" the receptionist's voice rang over the intercom in his office.
Derek sighed, he just wanted some peace and quiet to be alone with his thoughts. He quickly pushed his lunch to the side and told Costella that it was fine.
A few seconds later Derek heard a knock on his door
"Come in" his gruff voice barked.
There at the door stood a young girl, no more than 16. She had long dirty blonde hair that was wavy, big bright blue eyes and a slight smile. She wore a sweater, a short skirt, a pair of black panty hose and on her feet were an old scuffed up pair of white converse. She was tiny, no more than 5'3 and no more than 110 lbs. Something about the girl looked familiar but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. He quickly shook out of his trance and motioned for her to take a seat.
"What do you want?" he asked much more coldly than he intended. Years of unhappiness and living a fake life had taken their toll. The light that used to occupy his eyes were gone and a grim frown line replaced it.
"H-hi Dr. Shepherd, my name is Grace" Grace said reaching out her hand
"Derek Shepherd, but you already knew that" Derek said not bothering to shake her hand. He wasn't meaning to be so rude but he couldn't help himself. This is the way he had treated people for years now.
Grace took a seat as she tucked a hand under the back of her skirt as she sat down before gathering her hands in her lap. She stared at him blankly for a second, completely taking him in. This was her father, this cold, sad man was the person she had fantasized about meeting for as long as she could remember. Sure she looked just like him, she could tell in that sense there was a definite linkage between the two but she couldn't help but feel a sense of major disappointment.
"Well" Derek said pulling her from her thoughts. His eyes were scanning over her, he had to piece together what was so familiar about the girl before he sent her away in an angry brood for interrupting his lunch, which he knew was bound to happen.
"Right, um I know before you worked here, you were a neurosurgeon. I'm going to college soon and I thought that I could ask you a few questions about neurology. Just so I could get a good sense of what it's about. I know you are a very busy man Derek..I mean Dr. Shepherd"
"You're rambling" Derek cut her off but a small smile graced his face. Rambling always reminded him of Meredith and the thought of Meredith always made him smile.
"So, what drew you to neuro?" Grace asked quickly trying to sound as interested as possible.
The smile quickly left his face "You came here and wasted my time, to ask me about neuro surgery, I barely even operate anymore. You could easily get your answer from an intern, or a med student, or hell just crack open a book" Derek couldn't help himself, the words flew out of his mouth before he could even process how nasty he was being
Grace looked at him, blinking a few times.
"I don't just give out information, why would I tell you? You're just some young kid who has wasted my time. I could have been gene sequencing and finding a cure to Alzheimer's disease instead of this" Derek spat
"Actually, you were eating lunch. I've been in here for less than two minutes" Grace Spat back
"I need to tell Costelle to stop letting just anyone in" Derek said mostly to himself
Grace quickly stood up "This was clearly a mistake" she said as she got off out of the chair.
Derek felt bad, he didn't mean to treat the girl so poorly, he really didn't. The girl seemed so familiar to him but he couldn't understand why. Grace was almost at the door when something Derek said stopped her. He didn't want to let her go just yet, especially on that note.
"Grace, when you're ready to apply for college, contact my office. I'll write you a letter of recommendation or something. You're trip here shouldn't have been for nothing" he said softer almost sadly as he sighed
"My trip here was for nothing. And no thanks. I don't want ANYTHING from you" Grace told him and left the office and ran out of the building, all the way to the street where she let herself cry. How her mother had ever loved that man was beyond her.
Derek let out a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. He went over the conversation over and over in his head, something about the girl stood out to him. He felt bad for being so cold to her and cursed himself for his inability to treat people with any type of kindness. As he stood up and pushed himself away from his desk, he found a JFK airlines tag that had fallen off of her book bag that she had brought with her.
He read the name and his eyes grew wide as millions of thoughts ran through his mind "Grace Elizabeth Grey" he said the name aloud. He then scanned and found her phone number and address, it was a New York address. Meredith Grey was currently living in New York, he pictured the girl, everything from her petite frame, old converses screamed Meredith, he had to find her and talk to her. He had to know if she was related to Meredith in any way. He had to.
He quickly ran out of his office and found Costella
"Is Grace still here?" he asked the receptionist urgently
"Sorry hun, she bolted out of here faster than a whore bolts from church, I guess she couldn't handle all your charm" Costella said sarcastically with an eye roll and then laughed at her own joke. Everyone knew Derek Shepherd was anything but charming.
Derek ran past Costella's desk and out of the building into the streets and briefly scanned them for the young girl, who he could only hope is somehow related to Meredith.
He went up and down the streets of D.C for half an hour but couldn't find her, for all he knew she was on a flight back to New York City by now. He had her phone number but he decided that it was just too much of a coincidence and he wasn't going to stalk or harass some kid into giving him information he had no right to ask. He slipped the tag into his pocket and made his way back into the building.
His bad mood had doubled in the time since he met Grace and decided maybe it was best after all to go home and spend some time with his son.
So I know Derek seems like a major jerk and he is. Remember in the if/then episode of Grey's were Derek is nicknamed 'McDreary'. This is Derek after 16 years of missing Meredith and wishing that he still had his life with her. He's bound to be miserable, but I promise his attitude will change and he will very much love his daughter in the chapters to come. Next chapter will include way more Addison and Peyton and more Meredith and Mark. I'm trying though right now to focus on Grace and Derek. I have a pretty clear idea how their next meeting is going to come about. I want the revelation that Grace is Derek's daughter to happen pretty quickly so I can move into the part of this story that I am excited about!
Please review, they make me happy (well the nice ones do )