Summer in the city wasn't exactly summer in the city; Addison surprised her and Derek by dragging them out to her parent's massive beachfront Southampton estate.
"Come on, Gracie will have fun on the beach and when she goes to sleep we can get drunk and plan the wedding and relive college!" Addison insisted as Meredith sprawled herself on her bed in her apartment in New York. Addie and Mark had just recently gotten their own place a few blocks away much to everyone's excitement. Addie was thrilled that she got to see her niece more often and Meredith was excited that she got to see her best friend more often, and they were both excited they got to plan the wedding together, which was next summer.
"Yeah but do we really feel like spending it at the spoils of your parents' divorce?" Meredith teased her. Addison rolled her eyes – the captain and Bizzy had divorced over the past year and while Addison wasn't bothered by it – she was a well-adjusted adult thank you very much.
"Oh come on, more than ever my parents are desperate to show me how much they love me with money, and Archer is golden boy as it is and they're all 'proud' of me or whatever,' she said, picking up one of Grace's dresses that needed to be folded out of a laundry basket.
"Oooh ouch, I wish Mommy Ellis was proud of me like that. She's proud of me for Gracie, and sometimes I think she's proud of me for med school, but then she takes it back," Meredith laughed, her hands on her stomach. Derek and Mark had taken Grace out to play in Central Park, leaving the girls by themselves for an hour or two.
"I think she's proud of you, in her own, twisted, Ellis Grey sort of way," Addison came up with, before glancing at Meredith who was shaking her head and laughing.
"Well she comes to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. She doesn't come for mine or Derek's birthday. Let's see if she comes for Gracie's," she laughed, reaching for the laundry basket and beginning to sort everything. Addison slid into place next to her to help, cooing over the baby clothes.
"I want one," she said, running her hands over a pretty little smocked dress Grace had worn on Mer's 24th birthday. Meredith looked up with a small smile, passing the dress into a pile that was now too small for her steadily growing daughter.
"So do it. If you think you can have a baby in med school…do it. Or wait until after the wedding and do it," she said, playing with the ends of her hair. She had known her best friend for what seemed like forever now, and she knew the look on her face as she stared lustily at the tiny baby clothes she was going through among hers and Derek's clothes.
"Oh god, I can't have a baby in LA," she said, taking her head. Meredith knew what her plan was; finish med school in LA and the four of them would do their internship and residency together.
"You could. I have a baby in New Hampshire," she shrugged her shoulders. She had had Carolyn through the last semester but she knew when she and Derek went back to school in the fall Grace would be in day care during the day, which bummed her out but she knew it was for the best. She would be one and running around playing with kids her age while her parents were in school to be amazing doctors.
"Yeah, but that's so close to Mom, and to Ellis, and you know Mom will be there in hours if you needed her…" Meredith cut her off.
"Yeah, and Mom would get on a plane and be with you, too, if you and Mark needed anything, because she loves you two like you're her own kids. She gained two daughters and a son with the three of us, and you know that," she said, leaning back into the pillows. She could hear Mark and Derek at the front door and suddenly Derek was walking into the bedroom with a giggling Grace. Meredith sat up and smiled happily, taking her daughter from him.
"Oh Miss Grace, did you have fun at the park with Daddy and Uncle Markie?" she smiled, breathing in the smell of fresh air on the baby's skin. She babbled and tugged at Mer's hair and she smiled, closing her eyes and taking everything in as Addison watched, her heart tugging as she walked out of the room and into Mark.
"I want one babe," she whispered, leaning against him and sighing. Mark sighed too, having had a great time with his niece, wondering how Derek and Meredith managed to have everything.
"I do too. Let's just wait until after the wedding for now, okay?" Addison looked down, slightly dejected, but she smiled. Meredith knew how much Addie loved babies and children and it made her pout a bit that their first born wouldn't be close in age now.
The Hamptons were beautiful any time of year, but spending the summer there was amazing, just as amazing as Addison had promised when she had wooed Meredith and Derek there with their small family. The rest of the Shepherd sisters and their families popped in from time to time, Amelia staying the longest. Meredith and Addison were closest with her and Meredith was always concerned about her; she knew things about Amelia that Derek didn't.
Like that she was bordering 20 years old, had just finished her sophomore year of pre-med at Harvard, and was a raging alcoholic and hid it from her family extremely well. But Meredith, who used to drink her own feelings away, could see right through it all. Then there was Addison, who had grown up with Bizzy, could also see right through it, and the two girls hovered and mothered her without being too obvious about it.
Spending their days on the beach, Addison and Meredith laid out with Mark and Derek playing with Grace in the sand, building sandcastles and taking her in the water. It worked because the boys were just giant children and Gracie was a smaller version of themselves. Meredith watched them all playing with the sand before she crawled over to them, plopping the baby in her lap. She couldn't believe she was eleven months old already; her birthday was in a month and she was trying to take her first steps already. Meredith beamed with pride as Grace held onto her hand and stood up, sand all over her body and in her hair, getting Meredith all sandy.
"Well hello miss," she laughed as the baby cooed. Well, she wasn't really a baby anymore, but she would always be her baby.
"Mama!" she smiled, and held out her arms for Meredith, wrapping them around her. Mer smiled and held her close; she smiled like sunscreen and the salty ocean, sunshine and fresh air.
"Mmm yes baby," she said as she closed her eyes. Derek moved beside her and wrapped his arms around the two of them and Meredith melted into his arms.
"I love you," he whispered as he tugged them closer, and Meredith giggled as he words tickled her neck.
"We love you too, don't you Gracie-girl?" she grinned, looking down at their daughter, who giggled and held out a shell to Derek.
"Oh, is this for me? You shouldn't have, princess," he laughed as he took the mangled shell from her and kissing her forehead, before scooping her up again.
"Come on, we're gonna go with Uncle Mark to look for more seashells so Mommy and Aunt Addie can plan their wedding," he laughed, letting her walk supported between his legs back over to Mark, while Meredith brushed the sand off and headed back to Addison, where they had everything for the wedding in notebooks and binders at their chairs and towels, and a few cocktails. Amelia was back at the house sleeping off a hangover.
Meredith collapsed back in her chair, tying her long hair up in a bun as she reached for one of the notebooks and sliding her sunglasses over her eyes.
"So Addie, you need a gown. And we need gowns. And Miss Gracie needs a dress. How was that not your first priority!?" she laughed. That had been her first thing, finding a gown before everything else, but that had been easy for her, especially since she had known where she wanted the wedding and reception to be.
"Well Bizzy wants the wedding and reception on the estate in Connecticut, or here on the beach," she said, motioning around them. It was a private beach, and Meredith knew it would be a small, private wedding, with just family and friends. Either choice would be pretty. Plus, with Addison's taste, the wedding could still be elaborate, fancy, and black tie no matter how small it was or where it was. She could wear a white trash bag and it could be a huge, gorgeous wedding.
"Yes, but where do YOU want it?" she asked her, cocking her head to the side. Addie closed her eyes and sighed, sipping her water.
"I don't know, you know Bizzy, I do what she tells me to do because if I didn't she'd open the gates of hell." Meredith snorted; she'd only met Addison's mother a select few times but knew that she rivaled Ellis.
"Addie, break free from her. Do what you want to do. It's your wedding," she shrugged, watching Mark and Derek with Gracie, her heart soaring as her little baby kicked her feet in the water, the sound of her laughter canceling out everything else.
"Well, if we're talking reality, I'd have it in New York. Everyone we know is in New York, our friends, most of our family. I mean Mark grew up here, his dad lives here, the Shepherds are here, you and Derek are here…well you're part of the Shepherds," she smirked, as Meredith turned back to her, tugging up her bikini top and unconsciously touching her flat-again tummy.
"So have a New York City wedding. Plan it the way you want it to turn out. Get the sisters involved. I'm your maid of honor, I'll do anything you want me to since I'm on the east coast and you aren't, I can drive down to the city on weekends and do wedding things. I'm here for you, Addie, I've been your best friend since we were 18, I know what you like and how you like it," she smiled, stretching out a bit. The sun was beating down on them, turning her hair blonder than it had ever been before. She closed her eyes behind her sunglasses and took a deep breath, wondering when the carefully constructed life she'd built over the past seven years would eventually come crashing down around her.
Every day, from the beginning of June to the end of August, was spent on the beach around family and friends. By her first birthday, Gracie was walking and as Meredith looked through the little girl's things for the dress she had brought along for her birthday dress, the baby walked around the room holding a plush giraffe, babbling to herself.
"Mama's sorry sweetie, things are so messy in your bags," she pouted, before pulling out a pink dress with a floaty tulle skirt.
"Come here princess," she smiled, grabbing her by the waist and somehow wrestling her into the dress, knowing it would be ruined in an instant but she didn't care. She was already dressed in a navy and white striped sundress, her blonde hair shining against it, her feet bare as she rested Gracie on her hip and made her way downstairs. Shepherd sisters, spouses, and nieces and nephews were already running around the living room as Meredith set Grace down to play with them, before heading into the kitchen to check on everything. Years after leaving the House of Ellis Grey, Meredith wasn't used to bossing around and hunting down a staff, but Bizzy played a hard game and kept them around at all of her houses. Once she'd checked on the food, including the cake, she headed back into the main room where she was surrounded by sisters fawning over her and Grace.
"Mer, how did you manage to have the cutest baby out of all of us and get your body back at the same time?" Nancy complained, and Meredith had to shake her head, laughing as she watched her daughter playing with her cousins.
"She's just as cute as everyone else Nance! She looks like everyone, she's all Shepherd. And please, sometimes I feel so ick! I worked out a lot, went running," she said, shrugging off the statement.
"Please, you're a med student, you don't have time for that," and Meredith just rolled her eyes and smirked, wiggling her bare feet on the plush carpet. All of the guys were outside by the pool with beers, Carolyn was down on the floor with the kids, and the girls were standing around with glasses of wine – those who weren't pregnant, at least. Kathleen was pregnant with her third, passing Nancy at this point, with Lizzie getting married in October.
"You don't know what I do and don't have time for," Meredith teased her, wiggling her eyebrows as Nancy made a disgusted face.
"Ew, Mer, I know you guys have a baby but I so don't need to picture that," she said as Meredith just giggled, brushing her hair back. She looked around the room; it was a small family party and she was pleased with everything, but she felt the absence of her mother. She'd been so hopeful for a while that Ellis had changed and was coming around 24 years later, but sadly she'd been wrong. Pursing her lips together she sighed; even now she sometimes wished for her, to be held by her and loved by her. She loved Carolyn and knew she was loved as one of her own, but a girl needed her own mother too and that was something Meredith had never and would never know.
The kids played, the boys drank and ended up playing football on the beach, and the girls hovered around the kids and gossiped, but eventually it was time for cake. Meredith scooped up Grace, surprised she hadn't torn her dress to pieces, as the cake was brought out and set on the huge dining room table.
"Hey guys, let's sing happy birthday to Princess Gracie," she smiled, as the little kids ran to be front and center to help blow out the candles. Everyone gathered around the table and Derek handed his phone off to Addison, with Mark handling the video camera as Carolyn lit the candles.
"Alright everyone," Meredith smiled, looking up for a few pictures as Derek slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her and Grace close to him, planting a few kisses on her.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Gracie…happy birthday to you!" they sang, and Mer hoisted her up in the front, an arm running underneath the baby and around her waist. The small family posed for a few photos before they leaned in.
"Guys," she grinned down at her small handful of nieces and nephews.
"Gracie needs help blowing her candles out, do you want to help her?" they nodded in earnest and Meredith giggled, feeling Derek tighten his grip and whisper a quiet 'I love you' into her hair.
"Alright! One….two….three!" she counted, and several camera flashes went off as the candles went out. Grace giggled and clapped her hands, blowing kisses at the cameras as Meredith swooped in with kisses before looking up at the cameras. Since she was 18, puzzle pieces of her life had begun falling into place, part of a bigger picture, and she knew if she waited even longer to step back and look at it, the picture would be complete – she just had to get through med school and residency.
Ugh so reviews are STILL down but I can't wait to read all of them when they're back up! I fell in love with this chapter as I wrote it, loving writing about the fearsome foursome on summer vacation with a baby :D It came so easily and I wish all chapters were this much fun to write! I also realized that most of my chapters for this story are happy and perky….and then I realized that I have to write Ellis being diagnosed with Alzheimer's soon so it's not going to be 100% happy and perky for much longer. Still, I hope you like this chapter as much as I did!