Meredith stirred in Derek's arms as Zara cried from the cradle. The house was filled with chatter from the kids and everyone else and Meredith wondered how long she and Derek had been asleep for.

She rose from the lounge and limped towards her daughter and smiled at her. She picked Zara up and held her to her shoulder and patted her back.

"I know darling." She says trying to soothe her daughter's cries.

"Mer don't overdo it." Derek says rubbing his eyes.

"I'm not. She just wants her Mummy." She says before returning to the couch to sit beside Derek as Zara settled and opted for her fingers and looking at her mother.

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore."

"I know you are." He says. "Do you want any lunch or something to drink?"

"No I'm fine."

"You need to eat."

"I know but I'm not hungry."

"I know you're not but Zara needs you the most and not eating or taking in enough fluid won't do anything good for your supply or when you nurse her. You'll feel drained."

She doesn't say anything purposely ignoring him and he stood up annoyed and went to the kitchen where everyone seemed to be.

"I didn't expect you guys back for quite a while." He says checking his watch and noticing they had only been asleep for an hour.

"Yeah it didn't go too well." Jackson says quietly.

"Why?"

"Kaylee couldn't cope with it. She was scared that the man would get her."

Derek nodded his head and patted Jackson's back and moved to Kaylee and Cooper who sat at the table and were drawing with crayons.

"Hey kids."

"Hi daddy." Cooper says smiling up at him.

Kaylee remains silent and continues to draw.

"What are you drawing there Kay?"

"A tree."

"Why are you drawing a tree?" He asks.

"Just cause." She says.

"Well Mummy is up if you want to see her." He says. "I'm sure she'd love to see you kids."

Cooper's eyes lit up and he climbed down from the chair and ran to the lounge room.

Jasmine and Jackson stood in the kitchen with coffee cups in their hands overlooking Kaylee and her distance.

"Kay, are you alright?"

"Yes." She says with an unconvincing tone.

Derek let the situation slide and tapped the table before standing up to go to the fridge to pull out a bottle of water for Meredith. He entered the living room again and saw Cooper pressed to Meredith's side chatting away while she fed Zara. He waved the bottle in front of her and she smiled at him as he opened it and passed it to her to drink from.

"What's your sister doing?" She asks.

"Drawing. She's upset." Cooper says.

"Why is she upset?"

"I don't know." He says. "We went to the park and she got scared and started crying." He says. "So we came back."

Meredith looked to Derek with concern over Kaylee and he nodded his head back at her.

"Kay, do you want to come for a drive to pick Charlie up?" Jackson asks.

"No."

"I'm sure Charlie would love to see you."

"I just want to stay here and draw."

Jackson was surprised with her answer and kissed Jasmine's lips as he picked up his car keys and left to get Charlie from school.

Jasmine sat with Kaylee and didn't pressure her and read a magazine.

"Derek, she's not coping."

"I know." He says. "Should I bring her in here so you can talk to her?"

"No, leave it. I'll talk to her in a little bit. She's not big on talking at the moment."

They left Kaylee to be for another half an hour before she joined them in the living room when Charlie arrived home with Jackson. She sat in the armchair silent while she watched cartoons. Zara was happy laying on her stomach and smiling for her aunties and uncle and enjoying the attention. Derek was playing a game of snap with Cooper and Meredith just sat and watched the characters on the screen pass by and move like nothing had happened.

She wiped her eyes and heard her phone rang and got up and went to the back porch to answer it sensing it was an unknown number.

"He was refused bail." Jackson tells Derek quietly. "He's being held until the trial."

"That's good." Derek says. "The man deserves to rot in hell."

"Hello?" Meredith says.

"Dr Grey, its Sergeant Keel." He says. "How are you doing?"

"Getting by. It's been a rough morning."

"Well you and your family are more than welcome to return to your home. Forensics have finished up and have everything they need."

"Oh… thanks for letting me know." She says.

"Are you sure you're alright Dr Grey?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired and sore. That's all. It's been a hectic day."

"I know. I'll let you go so you can be with your family. I'll be in contact Dr Grey and remember to call if you need anything or have any questions or concerns."

"Will do. Thank you." She says. "Bye."

"Bye Dr Grey." He says before ending the phone call.

Meredith sank down to one of the chairs and felt scared. She wasn't sure what she felt scared for. She heard that Darren had been refused bail and hadn't been released back into the community. She heard that the judge hadn't been one bit sympathetic to him overhearing his plea. There was an overwhelming flow of support coming in from the community on a safe recovery for the family and for justice over the attack. She had just been told she could return home. The place that you're supposed to feel safest in, with no fear and a connection to place but the feeling of home became a hostile crime scene after last night and her safe place was ruined.

She heard the door shut and looked up to see Jasmine come and sit down beside her.

"How you holding up?" She asks.

"I don't know how to explain how I feel. I'm worried about Kaylee and everyone else."

"I know, it's tough." She says squeezing her hand. "I've been there before and I was only 16 when it happened to me." She says.

Meredith doesn't say anything and just overlooks the backyard.

"I don't know how we're going to get through. There's a huge elephant in the room and it's hard to address."

"Take it one day at a time." She says. "Speaking to someone might be the best. You and Kaylee because that little girl saw a lot and she's scared. I think the episode at the park was fear that she'd see the man again. Or someone else would do exactly the same thing to her. She was threatened by him Mer and she'll forever have his face in her mind and those words repeating constantly. She needs help. Both of you do."

"I don't think we're going to cope at home very well. Going back is going to be tough."

"Yes it will be. You've just got to take it slow. Maybe leave the living room off limits for a while."

"I think that'd make things worse. It'd become an avoidance thing and I would never want to step foot in the room again. I think I should just rip the Band-Aid off and get it over and done with."

"No anaesthesia." Jasmine says smiling.

Meredith nods her head as they hear the backdoor open again and see Kaylee walk towards them.

Jasmine nods her head and leaves the two of them to be and have a talk.

Kaylee sits down beside her mother and Meredith places an arm around Kaylee's shoulder and they stay in silence for a moment while Meredith waits for Kaylee to speak.

"I got scared at the park today." Kaylee admits. "I thought the man would be there."

"Oh Kay, it's fine baby." She says. "I would be scared as well. It was a scary thing that happened last night."

"It was."

"But we can't let it destroy us. We have to power through this Kaylee." She says. "We can't let people see that we are hurt, we have to show them that we are survivors. We survived the night and have lived to tell the tale and remind people that these things can happen to anyone."

"I can't do it right away."

"Oh I know you won't be able to. I won't either. We can take our time. In the end we're going to be warriors." She says smiling at her daughter and tracing the scar on her face. "I know how good of a warrior you are." She says.

"I am a warrior." She says.

"How would you like if you spoke to someone for a little while about what happened? It doesn't have to be for long just until you feel better inside." She says touching Kaylee's heart.

"I think it'd be for the best. It was a traumatic night. I don't want to change because of it."

"I don't want you to either. I'll speak to someone as well because let's face it. We can't do it alone."

"Daddy said he'll be there for us."

"I know he will be. Daddy though is upset over what happened last night so it may be best if we talk to someone else."

"Can't we talk to daddy about it at all?"

"Of course we can." She says. "I just think some things would be better left unspoken until we learn new tools on how to address everything that happened."

"When will I see this person?"

"When we are able to get an appointment."

"Do you come in with me?"

"No this is for you to openly talk without daddy and I in the room because you may keep things hidden from us because you don't want us to hear about certain things which is fine by us because bottling things inside can really do some emotional damage to some people and it's good to finally let those things out."

"Will I speak to a male or female?"

"What do you prefer?"

"A female please." She says.

"That's fine." She says. "You'll get to play a lot of games which is fun."

"When will I go back to school?"

"How about on Monday. Let us have the weekend together and then you can start back." She says. "Steph said that you're in the same class as Sam and you two are seated next to each other."

"Really?"

"Yes. Sam would like to see you as well." She says. "He missed you today and is thinking about you."

"Does Sam know what happened?"

"He knows that you were at the hospital with me. He knows that you were a little hurt but he doesn't know what really happened."

"Can I tell him?"

"You can tell him anything you like but only if you feel comfortable." She says. "It's totally up to you."

"Can we see them on the weekend?"

"I suppose we can. Maybe we could have a lunch and spend the afternoon with them."

"I'd like that a lot Mummy." She says. "He's my best friend and he's one of the many people I can trust with anything I tell him."

"Well you deserve someone like that." She says. "It's great having people we trust in life."

"Who's your person?"

"Hmm, Daddy and Cristina."

"What about me?"

"And of course you. I like confining in you." She says. "You're my best friend."

"But I'm your daughter."

"Doesn't mean you can't be my best friend as well."

Kaylee smiles at her mum and hugs her. "I love you Mummy."

"I love you too Kaylee." She says embracing her daughter. "I don't know how'd I feel if something were to happen to you."

"Me too. I'm glad you didn't get too hurt."

"How about we go home, have some dinner and curl up and watch movies until we fall asleep?"

"I think that's a good idea."

Meredith and Kaylee headed back inside and Kaylee went immediately over to Derek and hugged him.

"I'm sorry for earlier." She says quietly.

"That's fine baby." He says holding her tightly. "I could never be mad at you. Ever."

She smiles and kisses his cheek. "I love you daddy."

"I love you to Kaylee."

Derek went and packed the suitcase and placed it in the car along with the diaper bag before they bid farewell to Jackson, Jasmine and Charlie and head home.

The car trip was filled with an awkward silence and the radio drowned out the silence.

Derek pulled into the driveway and helped Cooper out and grabbed the car seat before going and helping Meredith out of the car. Kaylee dragged the suitcase into the house with the diaper bag on top of the case.

Sparrow was asleep on the porch swing as they walked up to the house and lazily stretched from his sleep and followed the family inside.

They headed to the kitchen avoiding the living room and inspected the fridge to see what they could cook for dinner. The fridge had a new addition with a lasagne covered in foil and a note left.

"Dear The Shepherd's, thought you may want an easy dinner tonight. Just pop in the oven and reheat. Love the Baxter's." Derek reads out.

"That was nice of them." Meredith says unpacking the suitcase and placing the dirty clothes into the laundry.

Derek got the kids settled with afternoon snacks and went and fed Sparrow. He walked back by the living room. When he came home earlier that day dropping Peanut off he was given the all clear to clean up after they had collected all the evidence and photographed and fingerprinted the house for the evidence they needed. They fingerprinted Derek so they could define the fingerprints of the attacker and everyone else's in the house.

Derek cleaned up the glass, threw out the broken coffee table. Scrubbed the blood from the ground and washed everything that had been stained with blood or anything else. He cleaned Zara's clothes again and made sure the room looked more reasonable then before. He did that all for Meredith and even had one of the investigators stay behind and help him clean the living room.

He though could remember where all the markers had been and where the blood and glass was before. The blood, even though it was clean he could still see the stain on the floor. He could even remember seeing the syringe discarded on the floor.

The phone broke his trance and Meredith beat him to it.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Seattle Times, I was wondering if we could do an interview with you about the attack."

"Excuse me?"

"We're you the woman who was assaulted last night?"

Meredith pulled the phone away from her ear and held it out. "It's the press."

Derek took the phone into his hand and held Meredith's hand.

"I'm sorry but you must have the wrong number. No one in this house was assaulted last night. Goodbye." He says ending the call as he embraces Meredith. "Don't worry about them. Let's send a message to everyone we know that if they want to get into contact with us to call and leave a message and we'll call them back or to message us on our cells."

"I'd like that a lot."

Derek sat Meredith down and made her a cup of tea while she checked Zara who was sound asleep in her car seat. Peanut was inside, curled underneath the table after her big ordeal.

Meredith left the kitchen and walked by the living room and noticed everything had been cleaned but her memory wasn't clean. A flashback from the night filled her brain and she covered her face and screamed as she opened her eyes and let her face go.

"Mer, it's okay." Derek says.

"How is it that I just want to burn this room?"

"I know you do. So do I. Maybe we could throw a flame thrower to it or hack it up with a sledge hammer." He says with a small smile on his face. "We could go to the hut tonight if it's too hard being here?"

"No it's fine. I think it's best if I'm here." She says. "Just don't be freaked out if I double check the locks and the kids."

"I'll be doing exactly the same thing." He says kissing her forehead. "And I've got someone installing the security system and alarm tomorrow morning."

"Okay, that's good." She says. "We should get some recommendations for a therapist for Kaylee as well. A female one she wants."

"Well there's some good ones at the hospital."

"Which could be handy." She says. "Dr Pip Archer is supposes to be good. She's really great with the play therapy stuff and partners with therapy at Kaylee's school."

"I'll call now and see if we can book her in soon." He says grabbing his phone and dialling the hospital. "Hi, I was wondering if I could make an appointment with Dr Archer."

"For your child sir?"

"Yes, her name is Kaylee. She's 7 years old."

"We have an opening tomorrow afternoon at 2 pm if you can make it?"

"Um sure, that'd be great." He says. "Do we get a chance to speak to her before the appointment?"

"Yes, she'll speak to you and your partner about why she's attending and the concerns you have for her." The receptionist says. "The appointment is 45 minutes. Can I get a surname please?"

"Shepherd." He says. "I'm a worker at the hospital."

"Dr Derek Shepherd?"

"Yes, that is me."

"Alright Dr Shepherd, Kaylee is booked in for 2 pm tomorrow afternoon. It'd be great if you could be there 5 to 10 minutes early and we'll get your insurance and payment plan sorted out. Bye."

Derek placed his phone back into his pocket and kissed Meredith's forehead. "2 o'clock tomorrow."

"I didn't expect to get in so soon."

"They had an opening. Hopefully Kaylee likes her."

"She should." Meredith says. "I'll book in to see Dr Wyatt and get my appointments booked."

Derek and she moved to the kitchen where they heated up dinner and served it. Zara woke from her sleep and Meredith nursed her while Derek bathed the kids and got them into their pyjamas. He led the kids to the bedroom and they climbed into the bed beside their mother and father and Derek put a movie on for them to unwind to and watch.

Cooper fell into a slumber first towards the end of the movie and Derek put another on in hopes that Kaylee would fall asleep. She soon did after Zara was down and Derek switched the TV off and he and Meredith faced each other with the kids between them and just stared.

They loved pillow talk and got to tell each other the best bits of their days and find anything else to talk about and keep each other amused. Tonight they couldn't find hardly anything to talk about.

"I want you to know that I'm supporting you through everything." He says.

"I know you will be. Some things are going to be hard for you to cope with and I understand that." She says. "All of last night is hard for me to comprehend."

"It's allowed to be." He says.

Another silence filled the room but they continued to stare at each other.

"Derek, honestly tell me how you feel?"

He exhales and bites his lip.

"Angry." He says.

"Why?"

"I'm angry because of what he did to you and the girls. I'm angry because he took away the specialness we have with each other and the thing we share mostly. I'm angry because I was paged away from the house and not able to be there for you."

"Derek, it could have happened during the day when you were at work."

"I know. Daytime is still safe than night and someone would have seen something if it did happen."

"Night time is always so mysterious."

He kisses her outreached hand and squeezes it. "I'm mad at myself because I failed in protecting my family."

"I'm not mad at you Derek." She says. "I can't resent you for anything that happened. It wasn't your fault."

"We're never going to get over this are we?"

"I don't know." She says. "Hopefully we can."

The next afternoon they dropped Cooper off at the day care and headed up to the therapist room. They checked in with the receptionist and took a seat. Zara was in the hug-a-bub wrap fast asleep on her father's chest and Kaylee sat beside her mother playing a game on her mum's phone.

A patient left the room and the therapist followed them out to the main desk and saw them off before walking to the family.

She knelt before Kaylee and smiled at her. "Hi I'm Dr Archer and you must be Kaylee?"

Kaylee nodded her head.

"I'm glad to meet you. How about you go into my office, I have some paper and crayons on the desk. You can go and draw if you would like to." She says smiling at her.

She slide off the chair slowly and looked to her parents who nodded their heads to tell her to go into the office.

"We'll see you soon dear. We're just going to do a bit." Derek says.

Kaylee walked into the office and Dr Archer led the parents into a small office.

"Tell me what has caused you to bring Kaylee to therapy?"

"Wednesday night, we had a home invasion. Derek wasn't at home and it was just me and the kids. I was attacked and assaulted and Kaylee saw most of the events. She was then verbally abused in a very horrific and terrifying manner and threatened. We just don't want to leave this too long because it could cause more trouble and she's supposed to be at school but we don't want to send her until she's had a few days with us to recover."

"You're scared her behaviour is going to change?"

"Yes." Derek says. "She's such a wonderful, bright and caring girl. She's so smart and never has a bad word to say. We're doing this for the best interest."

"Alright, let's see how this first session goes and we'll make out a plan from there." She says. "We should be done by quarter to 3."

"Okay, we'll be back. Ring if anything goes wrong." Derek says.

"We should be fine." She says smiling reassuring before escorting the parents from the small office and watches them leave before she enters her office. "Hi Kaylee." She says sitting down on the chair. "How'd your drawing go?"

"I'm still drawing." She says.

"What are you drawing?"

"My best friend Sam and I."

"How long have you known Sam for?"

"Since I was a baby. My Mummy met his Mummy when she was about to have him. He's daddy died in a car accident before he was born and she was alone so Mummy helped her and has struck up a lifelong friendship."

"Well what a nice woman your mother is."

"She's very friendly. She'd do anything to ensure people are happy before herself. She goes out of her way and it makes her one of a kind."

"She sounds like a great mother."

"She is." Kaylee says as she continues to draw. "She had me when she was 18."

"Really?"

"Yes, she told me that she finished school and that next week she had me on her birthday and still managed to do her exams and pass with one of the highest marks in the state and get into medical school." She says. "I'm going to be like her one day."

"Well it's a great thing to aspire to." She says. "Can you tell me something about this drawing?"

"This is Sam and I when we were at the park the other week. He let me have first go on the swings and even pushed me. He was very protective of me."

"Why'd you choose these colours?"

"It was a fun day that day, Sam was a little upset because his daddy was sick at the hospital but he smiled and had a fun day with me. Yellow because it's bright and happy. Green because of the greenness of the park and the bright blue because it was a nice clear day."

Kaylee finished off her drawing and showed Dr Archer.

"This is great Kaylee." She says. "Now I have a box for you and it will be your own personalised box with everything that you do here to be placed in there. It's a small memory box. I have markers and crayons and pencils. You can decorate the box and personalise it." She says placing the box on the table. "I though want you to make it a self-portrait of yourself. You can start it for me and you can take home the portrait and finish it off so you don't feel rushed. So here is your paper and you can do an outline for me and we'll get onto something else."

Kaylee smiles and then begins drawing her outline of herself before they move on to another small game.

"We're going to play a game that's going to help us get to know each other. It's called The 'I Don't Know, I Don't Care, I Don't Want to Talk About It' Game. I'm going to begin by asking you a question; a question that will help me get to know you better. If you answer it, you get a bead to go on your bracelet but if you say I don't know or I don't care or if you don't answer the question, I get your bead. Then you get to ask me a question; a question that will help you get to know me better. If I answer the question, I get a bead. But if I say I don't know or I don't care or if I don't answer the question, you get my potato bead. The game continues until we've asked each other five questions." She says. "You understand?"

"Yes."

"Alright, what do you like to do when you are not in school?"

"Go to the park and hang out with Mummy and daddy." She says as Dr Archer passes her a bead.

"You can ask me a question now Kaylee."

"Have you always lived in Seattle?"

"No, I grew up in Boston and moved here 12 years ago." She says as Kaylee hands her a bead. "What is one of your favourite movies?"

"I like Toy Story all of them I enjoy."

"I much enjoy those movies as well." She says handing Kaylee a bead. "They're great movies aren't they?"

"Yes they are. I was in Mummy's belly when number three came out." Kaylee says. "Have you been overseas before?"

"I've been to a few places. I've been to Paris, Thailand, Fiji and I've visited Australia."

"I've been to Australia as well." She says. "It was great fun."

"It's a beautiful place." She says. "What is something that makes you feel happy?"

"Laughter and cuddles and kisses." She says smiling as she is handed another bead. "Do you have any kids?"

"I have two kids. Twins and they are 5 years old." She says grabbing a bead. "What is one of your worries?"

Kaylee remains silent for a while shocked at the question and anxious about how to answer.

"Being hurt like mummy was." She replies softly.

Dr Archer takes note of Kaylee's tone and understands the fear she is feeling and takes a mental note.

"Have you ever been scared?" Kaylee asks.

"Many times. Especially when I was pregnant with my babies." She says. "Why do you think you're here today?"

"Because of what I saw the other night and because the bad man threatened abuse." She says not making eye contact. "Will I have to come here forever?"

"No, only until you feel happier and you don't feel fearful." She says. "What's one of your most recent happiest memories?"

"Meeting my baby sister for the first time and having her grasp my finger and when she smiled at me the other week." She says. "What makes you happy?"

"My family." She says smiling at Kaylee as the last questions had been asked.

The session finished up with Kaylee decorating her box and talking a bit about herself. Dr Archer gave her homework to finish the self-portrait and write down a diary about everything that happens in the next week to talk about next time.

"Mummy, will the bad man ever come back to hurt us?" Kaylee asks as she is tucked in.

"No Kaylee, he won't ever step foot near us again. We're safe from him."

"Will anyone else hurt me again?"

"I hope not." She says. "It's hard to answer that because it could happen."

"Is it part of life?"

"Yes baby but there is good pain and bad pain."

"Is having a baby good pain?"

"It hurts a lot but in the bigger picture you get a brand new baby that is all yours." She says kissing Kaylee's forehead.

"Does the bad pain go away?"

"Eventually, it will."

Sorry for the lateness, it's been a hectic week for myself.

Reviews and thoughts would be great and I'll try my best to update before the weekend.