Chapter 50: Nancy Has Arrived

"So that's Emery, Jacob, and Lillian." Carolyn said as Bella sat next to her on the couch "All fifteen of your cousins."

"That's a lot of cousins!" Bella gasped "I bet it's like a zoo when they all come over."

"Yes." Carolyn laughed "It feels that way sometimes." The front door opened, and she looked up as Meredith and Derek walked in carrying bags, her eyes narrowed "Hello, son."

"Mom." He smiled "We brought dinner."

"I'll help." She said standing up "we need to talk."

"I'll stay with Bella." Meredith interjected.

"She's not a toddler." Carolyn pointed out "I'd like to talk to the both of you."

Meredith gulped but knew better than to argue with Mama Shepherd so she followed Derek into the kitchen to put the bags down, Carolyn came in shortly after and closed the door with a sigh.

"So what happened!" she demanded. Meredith and Derek eyed each other but were both speechless "Oh out with it already are you're no longer children."

"Feel like it." Derek pouted "Meredith got pregnant right after med school, and we decided together that it was better to put the baby up for adoption."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, looking at Meredith now "Why, I thought I was like a mother to you?"

"Exactly." Meredith gulped "And what daughter would easily tell her mother that she's knocked up by a random guy that she could hardly remember."

"Random guy?" Carolyn frowned "But I thought…"

"Derek is Bella's biological father." Meredith finished the sentence "But I didn't know that, I was…very drunk that night. But we've done DNA tests and she's his."

"Derek!" she scolded "How could you let her put a baby that might even be close to being yours up?"

"Because I had no idea, she was mine either." He defended "And it was Meredith's choice. I was just there to support her."

"I can't believe that my granddaughter has been with strangers for the past nine years!"

"You know mom." Meredith gulped "I understand, this is hard. Believe me when I say that I've had a lot of days of regret…but Derek told me something once."

"I did?"

"Shut up." She rolled her eyes "He said that she was with people who loved her for nine years. She was with people who cared about her and treated her as their own. She was loved."

Carolyn's anger lines smoothed out and her face fell a little "She was loved."

Just then they heard the doorbell ring and Derek frowned as he glanced at Meredith, wondering who they should be expecting. Carolyn's eyes lit up as if she'd just recalled something.

"Oh that's probably your sister." She said, "I came out with her, I hope that's alright."

"Depends on which sister." Derek grumbled as he started for the door.

"I'm going to go check on Bella." Meredith said, "She's had an…interesting day."

Carolyn smiled and nodded as Meredith turned and walked into the family room. Bella was sitting on the couch watching TV and Meredith sat on the chair next to the couch.

"Hey kid." She smiled "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." Bella frowned.

"I mean with the…" Meredith twirled her fingers around nervously "the thing."

"Oh." Bella's eyes raised a little with understanding "Yeah, I'm ok."

"Good." Meredith smiled.

"I don't care!" they heard from the foyer and looked up "No one in their right mind has any excuse for keeping this kind of information from their family, especially for nine years!"

"Nancy calm down!" Derek muttered back as he followed her march through the house. "You're being irrational."

"YOU are being irrational!" she shouted "You and that little slut you married."

At that moment she realized that there were other people in the room and her eyes widened as she spotted Meredith.

"Nancy." Meredith grinned "How's your eye?"

Nancy gulped, and her face turned a few shades of red before shrieking and turning to march into the kitchen where her mother was. Derek looked at her apologetically before letting out a big frustrated sigh and going into the kitchen.

"Mom?" Bella asked, Meredith looked over to see a disturbed look in her face.

"What honey?"

"Is that my aunt?"

"Yes." Meredith nodded.

"Do I have to like her?"

Meredith smiled "Completely up to you." She sighed "But you should try."

"I don't think I want to try for long."

"And I can't blame you, I didn't either." Meredith smirked.

Bella giggled for a moment but then went to look down at her hands.

"Bella?" Meredith asked, "Are you ok?"

"I have something to tell you, but it sounds really bad."

"Ok." Meredith gulped and shifted in her seat as she thought about all the things her daughter could be about to tell her "Well just go ahead and say it, I'm all ears."

Bella chewed on her lip for a moment before letting out a sigh "I'm kind of glad that my adopted parents died."

"Oh." Meredith gulped, definitely not expecting that.

"I mean, I'm sad that they died. But now I'm here with you, and with dad. And I just…I guess I just understand myself more here. I feel like I…like I, fit, I guess."

"Bella." Meredith sighed as she fought a burning sensation in her eyes, she got up and sat down next to Bella on the couch and wrapped an arm around her "You do fit, you fit perfectly here."

"Oh, don't you make excuses for them mother!" they heard screamed from the kitchen "No wonder they didn't have the decency to call us in the last three months!"

"Seriously mom," Bella scoffed "do I really have to like her?"

Meredith giggled and patted her daughter's head.

"No."