"Ra ma," Katie giggled as Meredith reached out to take her sippy cup off the tray of her high chair.
"Really?" Meredith asked as she looked down at her five month old from her place in front of the sink.
"Ma ma ma ma ma," Katie nodded.
"Well, if I didn't know better I would think you were calling me Mama," Meredith smiled as she reached out to run a wet wash cloth over her daughter's face. "You sure made a mess with those peaches, Katie-bug."
"As ah," Katie said as she looked up at her mother.
"I know you hate peaches, but they're good for you," Meredith said as she reached out to pick her daughter up from the highchair.
"Ga," Katie sighed as she nuzzled her head into her mother's shoulder, rubbing her eyes gently.
"Alright, princess, Mommy was thinking that we should have some playtime," Meredith said softly. "But I think someone's getting sleepy."
"Ahhh," Katie shook her head furiously as she kicked her little legs against Meredith's ribs.
"Okay, no nap," Meredith giggled as she moved towards the play room. "Let's play. Daddy will be home from work soon, and then we can have a family afternoon. How's that sound?"
"Ahhh," Katie nodded.
"Okay Meredith smiled as she set her baby daughter down on the floor of the playroom and reached for a rattle, placing it next to Katie's hand. "Can you get the rattle?" she asked, "Bring it closer?"
"Ga ra," Katie nodded as she rolled the rattle closer to her and lifting her upper body off of the blanket that Meredith had placed her on.
"Good job, sweetheart," Meredith smiled she leaned closer to her daughter. "You're getting so big!"
"Ra ca da ma," Katie smiled as she looked up at her mommy with a proud expectant smile.
"I knew you were going to be chatty like your daddy," Meredith sighed as Katie rolled over onto her back and Meredith leaned down to tickle her stomach. "You're a lot like him, aren't you?"
"Ca pa ka ra ba sa ma," Katie rattled off.
"Should we practice talking?" Meredith giggled. "You know what a sheep says? A sheep says baaaaa."
"Baaaaa!" Katie echoed before giggling loudly.
"Good job princess," Meredith smiled.
"Ahhhh," Katie sighed, rubbing at her eyes in a sign that she was tired and ready for a nap.
"I know you don't want to sleep, sweetheart, but you're very tired," Meredith sighed as she lifted her daughter onto her shoulder. "How about we nap together in Mommy and Daddy's bed? That way you won't have to sleep all alone in your crib. Maybe we'll sit outside while we wait for Daddy."
"Ahh," Katie whimpered as her eyes drifted closed.
"It's okay, princess, you can sleep," Meredith said, bouncing her baby in her arms as she drifted off to sleep. "Mommy's here."
As Katie drifted off to sleep in her arms, Meredith moved towards the front door, gently lowering herself onto the swing on the porch as she looked over their cliff. Derek would be home from the emergency surgery he'd been called into soon, and then they would have a family afternoon before he made her and Katie dinner and he gave their daughter her night time bath.
Derek loved giving Katie her nightly baths, and their little girl loved it too. The few times when Derek had been stuck overnight at the hospital and Meredith had tried to bathe her daughter Katie had screamed bloody murder the whole time. At least Meredith had story time. Katie was definitely picky about which parents paid attention to her at certain times of the day, but she loved it best when she had the complete attention of both of them.
As Meredith heard a car pull up to the house, she smiled down at her daughter, expecting to see her husband's familiar car pull up. But she frowned when she saw a completely unfamiliar car stopping in front of her house, and she tightened her arms around her sleeping daughter. After a moment, she saw Thatcher Grey step out of the car, and she swallowed hard. She definitely hadn't been expecting this, and she wasn't sure that she was strong enough to talk to him.
"Meredith," Thatcher said as he stopped at the bottom of the stairs on the porch. "I um… I'm glad you're home."
"I wasn't expecting you," Meredith said. "Ever."
"I just…I wanted to talk to you at the wedding but everything was crazy and Derek wasn't exactly letting go of you," Thatcher said.
"Derek loves me," Meredith shrugged as she looked down at Katie, adjusting her shirt that had ridden up on her belly.
Thatcher nodded softly and Meredith thought she saw a flash of pain in his eyes. "I know I tried to apologize to you last year," he said softly. "But I should have done it differently. With Lexie…I'm truly sorry for hurting her with my alcoholism. But I hurt you so much more than her, and I should apologize for that too. All of it. I regret all of it, Meredith, so much."
Meredith stared at him for a moment before she took a deep breath and moved over on the swing. "You can sit," she said. "If you want."
Thatcher offered her a relieved smile and he climbed up the steps, sitting down beside her on the swing. They were silent for a moment before he looked down at Katie. "She's beautiful," he offered.
Meredith smiled softly as she ran a hand over her daughter's cheek. "She is," she said. "She looks like Derek."
"Her hair maybe," Thatcher offered. "But her face…it's like I'm looking at you thirty five years ago."
"Oh," Meredith blinked as she shifted her gaze to look at her father. Or former father. "You left me."
"I…I left your mother, not you" Thatcher nodded. "But I never wanted to leave you, Meredith."
"You did," Meredith said. "I remember. You promised to take me to the zoo. You were going to take me to the zoo, but then you were gone. And I was a five year old with no father and a mother who didn't care."
"I always wanted to see you, Meredith," Thatcher said. "I know that you don't believe me, but your mother used you to hurt me. I was going to file for custody, I knew that she was going to be an awful mother, but one day when I came to pick you up, the house was just completely empty. That was before cell phones and e-mail and there was no way for me to contact her. It wasn't until twenty years later that I found out she had taken you to Boston."
"Oh," Meredith said. "I guess…I don't know how to respond to that. It doesn't make it okay."
"I figured that you would hate me," Thatcher said. "So I didn't try to contact you. When I went to visit Lexie at Harvard, I wanted so badly to see you, but I couldn't work up the courage. And I'll always regret that."
"I guess I can forgive you or something for that," Meredith said. "But when I came back…I tried. I tried to be your daughter and then you slapped me. You said it was my fault that your wife died."
"I was…grieving," Thatcher said. "I know you did everything you could to help her. It just wasn't enough."
"You still hit me," Meredith whispered. "And I…even if I were to somehow forgive you for that, I don't think Derek ever will."
"I'm glad that you have him," Thatcher sighed. "And I don't expect to be apart of your family or your life, but you need to know that I'm sorry. And I really mean it, I'm not just saying it as apart of my recovery."
Meredith smiled softly as Katie whimpered slightly in her arms. "Thank you," she said. "I…I appreciate the apology. I can't forgive you yet, but it means a lot that you apologized."
"I understand," Thatcher nodded as he stood and moved down the steps, preparing to leave.
"Can I ask you something?" Meredith asked, moving Katie to hold her close to her chest.
"Anything," Thatcher nodded, stopping at the bottom of the steps and looking at her expectantly.
"Why?" Meredith asked. "I mean, I get that my mom was horrible and she probably made you miserable, but…you could have found us. Or you could have taken me when you left. I really just want to know why. Because right now, I'm sitting here holding my baby daughter, and the thought of ever leaving her makes me sick to my stomach. I could never do it, so I just want to know why you didn't try to keep me. Really try, not just want to try."
"I guess I wasn't strong enough," Thatcher said softly. "I wish I had been, Meredith, I really do. But for what it's worth…you're a wonderful mother. Katherine loves you, and she'll never be hurt like you were. I can tell that you and Derek really love her, and each other."
Meredith smiled softly as she cradled Katie closer to her. "Thank you," she said.
Thatcher opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could, Derek's familiar car pulled up to the house and he stepped out, frowning when he saw the familiar figure of Meredith's father standing at the foot of their porch.
"What's going on?" he asked carefully as he stepped past Thatcher and sat down on the swing beside Meredith, pressing a soft kiss to Katie's head before he turned to study Meredith carefully.
"My um…Thatcher…just came by to apologize for everything," Meredith explained, smiling slightly at her husband. She loved that he was protective of her and their baby girl, but hopefully he would realize that everything was okay and back down.
"Oh," Derek nodded slowly, obviously thrown off by coming home to this situation. "Do you want me to take Katie inside?"
"No, she's sleeping well here," Meredith smiled as she rested her head against his shoulder. "I don't want to disturb her."
"Hmm, there's nothing worse than waking a sleeping Katie," Derek said as he reached out to take her tiny hand into his own.
"You were the same way, Meredith," Thatcher said gently from the steps.
"I was?" Meredith asked, turning her attention to her father again.
"If I was ever to wake you before you were ready, you screamed for hours on end," Thatcher said with a soft smile. "You had quite the set of lungs."
"Well, that hasn't changed," Derek smirked.
"Shut up," Meredith rolled her eyes.
"At least we know where our daughter got her crankiness from," Derek teased.
"Right, because you don't have a temper at all," Meredith said.
"I can control my anger," Derek nodded.
"Right," Meredith scoffed before she turned back to her father. "Look, um, I get it if you have plans for this afternoon," she started. "But…if you're free, maybe you could stay for a little while."
"Really?" Thatcher asked, and Meredith smiled as she noticed the look of relief that wash over her face. "I'd like that a lot."
Derek smiled as he leaned forward to kiss Meredith's forehead. "I'm going to go change," he said softly. "Let me know if you need me to take over Katie duty."
"You should stay," Meredith said as she leaned into him. "You mom's told me all about when you were a baby. Now we can hear about me."
Derek smiled as he squeezed her hand. "Sure," he said, gesturing to the chair across from the swing. "Have a seat, Mr. Grey."
"It's Thatcher," he said as he moved to sit. "You are married to my daughter."
"I am," Derek nodded. "And I've loved every single moment of it."
Meredith smiled as she looked at him for a moment before she turned to Thatcher. "So what else was I like as a baby?" she asked. Maybe today was the day that she could finally make peace with her father.
XXXXX
"Alright, sweetheart, time for bed," Derek said as he lifted Katie out of her mother's lap later that night.
"Ah as ga," Katie sighed as she nuzzled into his neck.
"Yes, Mommy read you three stories tonight," Derek said as he placed a kiss to the top of her head. Meredith smiled as she stood and moved to stand beside him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her chin on his shoulder.
"Ahhh," Katie whimpered as Derek leaned down to put her in her crib.
"We know you don't like sleeping in your crib, but you can't sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed," Meredith said as she placed a teddy bear in her baby's arms. "So we're going to go downstairs now. But if you need us, we'll be able to hear you, so just call for us, okay."
"Good night princess," Derek smiled as he pulled Meredith away from the crib, switching on the night light before he turned the lights off and stepped into the hallway, closing the door partway behind them.
Meredith sighed as she leaned against the wall, the stress of the day fully taking its toll on her.
"How are you doing?" Derek asked as he reached out to play with a strand of her hair.
"Okay," she sighed, opening her eyes to look at him. "How was your surgery? I don't think I ever even asked you that."
"It was good," Derek nodded. "Patient lived."
"Good," Meredith sighed.
"How are you feeling about your dad?" Derek asked.
"Confused," she replied. "Can we maybe go somewhere and talk?"
"Anywhere you want," Derek said. "Wine on the porch?"
"How about wine in the bath?" Meredith suggested.
"Even better idea," Derek nodded, leaning in to kiss her softly. "You draw the bath, and I'll get the wine?"
"Thanks," Meredith smiled as she pushed herself off of the wall and moved towards their bedroom. She quickly moved into the bathroom and started the bath, tossing in some bubbles and lighting some candles before she stripped out of her clothes and pulling her hair up before she slid into the warm water.
"You better not be getting started without me," Derek laughed as he came into the room a moment later.
"Hmm, thinking about it," Meredith smiled, watching as he set the wine and the glasses on the edge of the tub and stripping out of his own clothes. "I'm not really in the mood for sex right now, Der."
"I know," he said as he moved to pour the wine, handing her a glass. "Me either."
"Oh really?" Meredith giggled, raising an eyebrow. "You're hard."
"I'm looking at the most beautiful woman in the world sitting in a bath," Derek shrugged. "I can't help it."
"Hmm," Meredith smiled as he settled into the water behind her, wrapping his arms around her stomach. "Maybe later."
"If you want to," Derek nodded, sipping at her wine. "How are you feeling?"
"I…really don't know," Meredith said softly. "But I really did enjoy this afternoon. Learning more about myself and talking with him…it felt nice. But I don't know if I'm ready to let him into my life, to be my dad and Katie's grandpa."
"Maybe you just need to take baby steps," Derek said softly. "Keep meeting him for dinner, coffee…just see him for short periods of time until you feel ready to let him in."
"What happens if I can't?" Meredith asked. "He abandoned me, Derek. The last thirty years don't just disappear because I liked hearing about what I was like when I was five."
"I know," Derek nodded. "Although five year old Meredith sounds like she was pretty adorable."
"More adorable than five year old Derek," Meredith giggled as she leaned back into his arms.
"That's mean," Derek frowned. "Here I was about to say that you're still adorable, and you're telling me that I'm not cute."
"I think it's weird that you're calling me adorable," Meredith said as she ran a hand over his thigh.
"How's that weird?" Derek asked.
"Because an hour ago you called Katie adorable when she was splashing you with water in her bath," Meredith pointed out.
"Well, that was Katie adorable," Derek said.
"And what am I?"
"You're Mer adorable," Derek laughed, pressing a kiss to the back of her head.
"What's Mer adorable?" she asked.
"Well, it's a little bit of cute," Derek began. "Mixed in with some beautiful. And a whole lot of sexy."
"Sexy huh?" Meredith asked as she shifted in his arms to face him, straddling his hips as she ran her hands through his hair.
"Very sexy," Derek nodded, leaning forward to take her nipple into his mouth.
"Oh," Meredith sighed as she arched her back, her hands moving to grip the side of the tub as Derek sucked lightly.
"Still not in the mood for sex?" Derek murmured as he trailed his lips to her other breast.
"Hmm," Meredith sighed. "Keep doing what you're doing. I think I'm getting into the mood."
"Good," Derek smiled as he leaned in to suck on her other nipple. Meredith moaned as she leaned into his touch, allowing herself to fall into the complete realm of pleasure that only her husband could provide her with.