Chapter 11: Richard
Meredith lay in her bed, letting tears drip down her face silently. Richard had been her father in every way that mattered. He had cared about her, loved her, and treated her like the daughter that he had never had.
He had loved her not because she was Ellis Grey's daughter, but in spite of it. Though it was through Ellis that they had met, he was her father even without Ellis there.
"Mom?" Meredith turned her head and saw her three children standing at the door.
"Hey guys, what's up?" She tried to speak normal, but her thick voice gave her away, as well as her red eyes.
"We wanted to know if we could stay with you tonight Mom." Jake was looking at her, eyes trusting.
Katie nodded from next to him. "Yeah."
"Okay." Meredith could never say no to her babies about things like that. When they were little, she had been firm with them about many things, but nightmares and thunderstorms were reasons for them to all cuddle in her big bed. And this, it was worse then a nightmare, because in nightmares you woke up.
Meredith rolled over so that she was in the middle of the bed, towards the foot and all took their familiar places. Zach lay on one side while Jake grabbed the other and Katie curled herself by Meredith's head.
"He's not going to take us away is he?"
"I won't let him baby. He won't."
Meredith motioned for Katie to come closer and the four of them jammed together in a tight hug that would knock the air out of some people's lungs, but it was who they were, a Grey Family Sandwich.
"I miss him." This time it was Zach's voice instead of Jake's. Her first baby boy. He was talking about Richard, not Derek. Meredith felt her throat closing up. One man they loved was gone, and this strange man that they were all now terrified of was there instead.
"I do too."
"It's okay to be sad Mom." Katie buried her head further into the sandwich. Zach and Jake both nodded. They took care of each other in ways that fourteen year-olds shouldn't have had to, but it was who they were.
"He wasn't supposed to die." Her voice was soft and she felt her children tighten their holds around her in a tight comfort. They were her support system and sometimes when she let herself cry, she was just one of them.
Meredith had always thought of Richard just like her children had. He wasn't supposed to die. He was greater then God even. Nothing could strike him down. He wasn't supposed to die. He was supposed to live longer then all of them. To see her children grow up and get married. To be a great-grandpa. He was supposed to survive her. To be there to take Katie down the aisle and stand up for Jake and Zach. Just to – to be.
Adele too. Adele was the mother she never had. The mother who hugged her, kissed her, told her she was the best daughter a woman could ever want. Ellis had never called her anything but normal. Yet, there was Adele, her mother's affairs wife hugging her and her children and telling them how much she loved them. How they were more then she could ever ask for. How proud she was to call them her family. For them to be her grandchildren and her daughter.
"He wasn't supposed to die." At those words Meredith's voice broke.
He father, her dad, even if he wasn't by blood had been dead for barely four days, his body barely laid to rest, and they were already dealing with more then Meredith felt she could handle. She watched her children hug her tighter and wished that Richard was there. Maybe she would wake up and everything would be a dream.
Cristina sat up in bed. She had been tossing and turning for hours. It was useless. She couldn't sleep.
"Cristina?"
"Go back to sleep Pres. I'll be back soon." Burke didn't really say anything, just turned around and went back to sleep.
She slipped out of her house, leaving a quick note telling her husband she would be back soon so he didn't freak out. The night conversations he usually barely remembered.
She opened the front door and almost screamed when she saw Izzie and Alex standing there. Izzie was resting her head on Alex's shoulder her four-month belly barely a round bump.
"Couldn't sleep either?"
"No. We were wondering if you could take Hay for a few hours." Cristina took the sleeping baby from his daddy and looked at the clock.
"I'll go give him to Preston. Call Bambi and make sure that he's freakin' awake. I don't want to have to go get him."
"I'm right here Cristina. Let's go." George appeared from the shadows, disheveled and tired. Cristina nodded, and disappeared inside.
She woke up Burke, told him what was going on and handed him the sleeping child, who slept through all of it without a peep.
They headed off to grab their sister. The one who was hurting in the worst way possible.
Cristina let the group into the house and she quickly bend down and let Shep figure out who it was so that he didn't make noise and wake anyone who wasn't already up, up.
The four crept to Meredith's room and couldn't help but smiling at the sight. The four Grey's were curled together, arms and bodies overlapping. Meredith had rolled out slightly and was still awake.
"Hey guys." She whispered.
"Hey Mer." George replied for all of them.
She stood up and kissed each child on the forehead. None stirred. The five filed silently out of the room and down to the kitchen. Once there, Meredith grabbed a chair and dragged it over to the fridge. Then, she climbed on it and pulled down and bottle of tequila.
"God damn it." She swung back a shot of straight tequila and filled them in on what had happened in the past few hours.
"So McAss wants the McKiddies." Meredith snorted. Only Cristina called them the McKiddies still. It had been their nickname for the first few years of their life.
"I'd like to see him try." Alex replied. "I'll kick his ass."
"Oh God. This is gonna be a long night." George moaned sadly.
Izzie looked at the tequila and then at her stomach with a sigh.
"No shit Sherlock." She spat out tiredly.
And that was it. The dam broke. They started laughing. Laughing so hard they were crying. No one was sure why it was funny, or why it was something to laugh about, but it just – was. It was who they were. And then, in one moment Meredith was pulled into a warm embrace.
Her family held her as they cried together. They cried for Meredith's dad and for Meredith. For the McKiddies up-stairs that didn't want a dad anymore.
In the still of the night with Meredith's children safe in dreamland the small family, the group that had endured the worst of the worst, clung together.
For one night they held each other in a way that they had been doing for years with the while family. But, once again it was them. The five interns who had gone through hell and back again. Together for one moment in time, holding onto each other for dear life.
There's a little bit of Richard... not really, more family stuff, but because of Richard.
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