Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy.
Author's Note:
Hello Friends! I have about fifteen stories I'm currently in the process of writing hanging out on my computer so here's another little snippet for you! Thank you so much to those who have skimmed, read, and reviewed. I truly appreciate every person who comes across my stories. If you were following my stories from the beginning and have found them again after all this time THANK YOU. Seriously, some of you have been reviewing my stories since the first chapter I posted of the very first one. I appreciate you greatly. Enjoy some MerDer family fluff :)
Read. Hopefully, enjoy. Review, if you feel so inclined ;)
"Alright," Meredith muttered happily, pulling Ellie out of her car seat before reaching back into the car to snatch her blanket, "Are you ready to see Dada?"
"Mama," Ellie squealed, babbling and kicking her legs as she hugged her blanket closer.
As Ellie babbled mindlessly to herself, they made their way through the airport parking garage across the street and into the building.
As part of Derek's final contract, he was asked to revisit the lab every six months in order to check in on their progress and give them some insight. He'd been gone for a total of four days this time around and Meredith had started to wonder how she'd done the whole parenting thing alone for all those months he'd spent there a couple years ago.
By the time they made it through the doors and found Derek's gate, her phone buzzed with a message from him. For about ten minutes, the girls sat in the waiting area playing pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo. Just as people started making their way out of the gate, she was getting restless and cranky.
"Look over there," Meredith pointed, standing up and holding her close, "Look for Daddy," she cooed, swaying the tiny blonde back and forth as she started to whimper, "There he is," Meredith told her excitedly bouncing a little as she noticed Derek's thick curls in the crowd, "There's Dada," she uttered, walking closer, "Say, Dada," she urged.
He would be so happy if you would just call him anything.
When they came up beside him, he was looking at his phone, his brows furrowed as he read an email, "Hey Stranger," Meredith called to him leaning my shoulder against his.
His head snapped up in surprise and a large grin flooded his face, "Hey," he said softly, "What are you doing here?" he questioned, shoving his phone into his pocket and setting down his briefcase, "Hi, baby girl," he cooed as Ellie screeched excitedly and reached toward him.
"Say 'Hi Dada'," Meredith cooed to Ellis as she let Derek pluck her from her arms.
"Daddy missed you so much," Derek told the baby, kissing her cheek a couple times and squeezing her close as she continued to babble before turning his attention to me, "I missed you too," he said, his voice soft and low as he placed a hand on her hip and leaned down to kiss her.
Meredith smiled against his lips, bringing her hand to his shoulder as she kissed him again, "Hmmm, I'm very glad that you're home."
"You didn't have to come," he said, standing up straight and swaying back and forth with Ellie as she yawned and laid her head on his chest.
"I know," Meredith replied honestly, "but I wanted to and there's some… stuff I wanted to talk to you about," she finished.
Derek raised his eyebrows, "Stuff? Are you pregnant again?" he asked.
"God, no," she snorted a laugh, gesturing toward Ellie, "taking care of the three of them alone this week was crazy enough."
Derek chuckled, "I thought Amy and Maggie were going to…"
"They were," she interjected with a sigh, "but Maggie's Mom is at the hospital."
He looked at me quizzically, "I thought Maggie liked her mother."
"She does, but she's not here for a visit," Meredith admitted, crossing her arms lightly, "She has breast cancer. It's pretty bad."
"Oh," Derek sighed, shaking his head as he rubbed Ellie's back.
Something about the last name Grey just forces the universe to take its anger out you, doesn't it?
"Yeah, she's been at the hospital most of the time with her Mom and Amy's been doing Owen 24/7," Meredith said, rolling her eyes.
"I did not need to know that," he groaned, resting his chin on Ellie's head and closing his eyes.
"Yeah well the kids didn't either," she snorted, "They saw them on the couch, naked," she told him seriously.
"On our couch?" he asked forcefully, a look of disgust on his face, "Why were they… doing it on our couch?" he continued, grimacing as his brows furrowed.
"That's what I need you to find out," Meredith groaned, "It's too soon to be having the sex talk with our kids."
"Why do I have to talk to her about it?" he questioned defensively.
"You're her brother," she argued.
"You're her sister," Derek argued back, "you're more of a sister to her than any of the other ones combined."
Meredith rolled her eyes, "That doesn't mean I want to talk to her about having sex on our couch."
Derek groaned again, "Fine, we'll talk to her about it together. If I go in there by myself and try to talk to her about it, I'll just say something to make it worse," he admitted, smoothing a hand across Ellie's head as she let out a snore.
"True," She agreed with a shrug, swaying back and forth and smiling sweetly, "Thank you," she said with a smug look on her face.
He smirked in reply and tilted his head, his eyes sparkling.
"Stop it," she hissed.
"Stop what?" he asked with an innocent shrug.
"You know what," Meredith told him, looking over as suitcases began rotating around the belt.
"Well it does say thank you like nothing else," he grinned again, wiggling his eyebrows.
Rolling her eyes again, she looked at him pointedly and snorted a laugh, "You're holding our daughter, that's just wrong."
"She wouldn't be here if it weren't for…"
"Shut up now," she laughed again, moving to grab his bag as it appeared.
"You missed me," he whispered with a wink.
"I did miss you," she conceded with a smile.
Derek freed his hand and reached an arm around her waist, squeezing her close. He released his hold on her waist and she grabbed his hand as they walked out of the airport.
"Are you ok?" Derek asked as Meredith let out a long breath.
Turning her head to look him in the eye, she smiled, "I'm fine, why?"
He adjusted his hold on Ellis, "You seem… not fine," he said suspiciously, squeezing her hand.
Meredith glanced over at him again before looking both ways as they crossed the street to the parking lot, "I just… I don't know how to explain it. I really am fine, like, normal people fine. It's just… I just… you were," she stammered as they stopped in front of their car.
"I was on a plane," he sighed knowingly.
Meredith huffed a breath, "You were on a plane," she repeated softly.
They unlaced their fingers. Meredith threw his suitcase in the trunk. Derek tucked Ellis into her car seat with minimal whimpering.
Meredith shut the trunk as lightly as possible as not to disturb the baby and walked toward Derek. He shut the passenger door and turned to face her.
"I love you," he said, tilting his head and winking as he put his hands on her hips and drew her closer.
Meredith tilted her head, her hair falling in front of her face as she placed her hands on his hips in return, "I love you too," she sighed, looking up at him.
"Come here," Derek whispered, pulling her flush against his chest with a smirk. He rubbed his hands up and down her back, squeezed her, and swayed back and forth a bit before kissing the top of her head.
Meredith sighed, contentedly, "I'm sorry," her voice was muffled against his shirt, "It's been a long time, but..."
"I know," Derek breathed, cradling her head in his hand and dipping his nose to her hair. It didn't smell like lavender anymore. A lot had changed.
"Mmhmm," she hummed, pulling back for a moment, just marginally to look up and into his eyes. Meredith reached up, threading her fingers through the curls at the base of his neck as she leaned closer and kissed him forcefully.
"Mmmm," a deep moan rumbled from Derek's chest, "do you wanna talk about?" he asked, bringing a hand to her face and kissing her again.
"No," Meredith giggled breathlessly, grabbing his face in her hands and kissing him roughly once more before pulling away from him and moving to get into the car.
"Play hooky with me today," Derek said suddenly as Meredith drove toward the hospital, Ellis asleep in the back.
"What?" her head snapped toward Derek for a moment as she snorted a laugh, "I can't… play hooky with you."
"Come on, Why not?" He asked with a goofy grin, reaching over and rubbing her thigh.
Meredith stuttered, "I… I have patients. You have patients. We have a hospital," she said, semi-frantically as she glanced between Derek and the road.
"Come on," Derek groaned, "we can drop the baby off at daycare and do something. Just the two of us. No kids. No patients. No hospital," he spoke slowly, continuing to stroke her thigh methodically.
"Stop it," Meredith laughed, shoving his hand away, "I know what you're doing," she accused.
Derek smirked happily, "No you don't," he whispered, "that's why you have that look in your eye."
"There's no look," she said defensively.
He nodded with a chuckle, "Oh there's a look."
The car rolled to a stop at a red light and Meredith looked over at him suspiciously, "You're not… dying or something… are you?" she gulped.
"No, I'm not dying," Derek snorted, "Do I have to be dying to spend time with my wife?"
"Well, no, but," she shook her head, shooting him a look.
"But nothing," Derek shrugged, turning toward her slightly, "Come on," he urged her, smirking, "We'll drop the baby off, take off for a few hours and pick all of them up at 5, just like we always do."
"Where would we even go?" she argued, staring at him as they sat stopped at a red light, "in Seattle in the middle of the day?"
"It's Seattle! Tourist central! We could do anything," Derek said, smiling wider as he leaned closer, "Come on," he whispered, "It'll be fun," he leaned over the center console and kissed her.
The car behind them honked when the light turned green and Meredith's head snapped back toward the road as she hit the gas, "This is crazy," she muttered, a smile playing on her lips.
"Was that a yes?" Derek asked, raising his eyebrows at her.
Meredith bit her lip, shook her head, and looked at him, "You promise we'll be able to get the kids on time?"
"I promise," he nodded.
"I can't believe we're doing this," Meredith laughed, turning into the hospital parking lot.
"That's a yes," Derek cheered quietly.
Pulling to a stop in a spot near the entrance, Meredith shook her head again, "That's a yes," she sighed.
Derek chuckled in response, "I'll run her up, you stay right here, don't change your mind," he called to her as he took his seatbelt off and jumped out of the car.
Meredith watched in the rear-view mirror with a smile as he expertly snatched Ellie from her car-seat without waking her and grabbing the diaper bag, blanket, and bunny all in one hand. He winked at her and shut the door quietly before strutting toward the entrance, snuggling their baby.
This is my life; this is really my life.
She laughed, shaking her head; after everything they had been through together, it was truly hard to believe.
"We're on a ferry boat at four o'clock on a Monday," Meredith laughed, "When has that ever happened?"
"It hasn't," Derek chuckled, moving behind her and pulling her back flush against his chest, "It might have to happen again though," he murmured into her hair.
"I think so too," she replied softly, tilting her head to kiss him.
"It's so… quiet, without the kids," Derek said thoughtfully, "It's hard to remember what it was like before them."
"Well," Meredith giggled, "It was cleaner, there were no diapers and a lot of sex."
Derek chuckled, swaying her softly, "That's true."
"I really love them," Meredith whispered, "I couldn't imagine my life without them, any of them… or you," she shuddered as a cool breeze drifted past them.
"I know," Derek responded softly, resting his cheek against her head, "How'd it go last week?"
"It was good," Meredith sighed happily, "crazy, but good. The last time you were gone, Ellie wasn't walking yet, which made everything easier, but this time," she laughed, "It felt like wrangling zoo animals at bedtime, very screechy zoo animals."
Derek chuckled, "They're spunky, just like their mom," he winked.
"You're the one who practically bounces around everywhere."
"I'm an old man, Mer, I don't have it in me to bounce anymore."
She smacked his stomach, "You're not that old. At least not in bed," she smirked.
"Touché."
"Speaking of sex," Meredith sighed, "Bailey wants a brother."
Derek's eyes bulged, "A brother?"
"That was my reaction. The girls were playing at the tea party table and Bailey was sitting on the bean bag pouting. I went over to ask him what was wrong and he glared at me and said 'Mom, I need a brother,' he looked just like you," she giggled.
"Well great, I'm glad the kid inherited something from me," Derek chuckled, picturing the little blonde boy with Meredith's eyes, "Do you… do you want another baby?"
"Maybe?" Meredith told him honestly, "Not anytime soon. Ellis is still so little and I, I don't know… I want some more time to work without throwing another person into the mix again, you know?"
Derek nodded, "I do."
"What about you? Do you think you'll want another baby?"
"I…" he licked his lips, "I wouldn't say no… but I'd have to agree, I think you deserve some time to focus on your work and things are going really well right now," he smiled, "I love our family and I love what we have, I'm not opposed, but I think it's important that we just enjoy Zola, Bailey, and Ellis for a while. These past couple years have been crazy between my accident and the baby. I think a year to settle down would be good."
"Yeah," Meredith nodded with a smile, "I think… I think that would be good too."
"So no brother for now," Derek conceded, "Maybe in a year or two."
"Do you want to break the news to your son?" Meredith laughed.
"As long as you're the one to tell him that if we do have another one, we can't guarantee he won't wind up with another sister," Derek snorted.
"I think that's your territory," she winked, nudging her shoulder against his.
Derek shook his head, "I feel for Bailey, I really do," he chuckled, "being the only boy is a tough business."
"He's fine, he's got you."
Derek hummed in agreement, "Maybe I'll take him along to our next guys' night."
"The one night every other week reserved for just the guys getting invaded by a 3-year-old?"
"Why not? They love Bailey."
"His little mind will explode," she said.
"It'll be fun," Derek laughed, "and It'll give us some time; just the two of us."
"I think he'd love that."
"Me too," Derek was looking out over the water when he felt her eyes on him, "What?" he chuckled, looking over at his wife.
"Just you," she whispered, "You are," Meredith began slowly, her throat becoming thick as she moved to look him in the eye. She smiled, "You are everything I never knew I always wanted for my kids," she finished softly, bringing her chilly hands to his face and kissed him.
Derek shook his head lightly and smiled at her, the one that made his eyes sparkle, "I love you."
"I love you too," Meredith told him, pulling him toward her and hugging him close.
When she was with him things made sense; problems felt small, little moments felt monumental, and her heart was full.
Derek stood in the doorway of the daycare center watching Zola color at a tiny green table, her tongue sticking out of her mouth in severe concentration. He glanced around the room and smiled again as he spotted Bailey putting toy milk cartons into a tiny oven.
A couple years ago I almost lost this forever. I would never have met Ellis, never would have coached Zola's soccer games or gone to her ballet recitals, never would have played dinosaurs with Bailey or put together his big boy bed.
Derek sighed contentedly.
What would I do without my family?
"Daddy!" Zola screeched when she finally saw him, "You're home, you're home, you're home!" she cheered, bolting toward him.
"Hi Zo!" he chuckled, swooping her up just before she crashed into his legs.
Zola wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close, "I missed you, Daddy."
Derek swayed back and forth, "I missed you too, Princess," he promised, tickling her side.
"Daddy!" another little voice called from across the room.
"Bailey!" Derek laughed again, matching his excitement as the little blonde boy bounced up to him and Zola started playing with his hair.
"Up, Daddy, up," Bailey requested, clinging onto his leg and staring up at him with big green eyes.
He smirked and moved Zola to one hip before squatting down quickly to snatch up his little boy, "Hi, Monkey."
"Hi," Bailey giggled excitedly, leaning his head against Derek's shoulder and sticking his tongue out at his sister.
"Hey! That's not nice, Bails!" Zola whined, sticking her lower lip out.
"Bailey, keep your tongue in your mouth," Derek chided.
"I am nice," Bailey glared at Zola.
Huh. He does look like me when he glares.
"Nuh - uh," Zola said.
"Hey, hey, hey," Derek called to the siblings, going back and forth and kissing each of their cheeks twice, eliciting a giggle from both of them, "Let's all be nice."
"Mommy and I chased dinosaurs, Dad," Bailey announced suddenly, grabbing at Derek's collar as Zola kept playing with his hair.
"That was a secret," Meredith gasped from behind them.
Bailey groaned, "But it was so cool, Mom."
"It was very cool," she smirked. Ellis squealed in her arms as Derek turned around to look at her, the two older kids still clinging onto him.
"Your mom is the coolest," Derek winked, "Hi," he said, his voice going up an octave as he kissed the baby's cheek. Ellie reached out to him and started whining.
"Uh-oh," Meredith laughed, bouncing her up and down, "You're gonna have to be patient, Daddy's fully loaded. I know, it's so rough," she cooed, attempting to hug the struggling baby closer.
"Alright, Munchkins, go get your stuff," Derek told the two clinging to him, "We have to get you home and fill those bellies," he said, crouching down to set them on the ground. The kids darted off to grab their bags and Derek popped back up to face Meredith.
"You can take this little hot mess," Meredith said, holding Ellis out toward him as she continued to cry and reach for him, "and I'll go sign them out," she declared.
"Come here, Ellie," Derek cooed, pulling her from Meredith's hands into his arms. The baby melted against his chest in a matter of seconds and grabbed onto his shirt, laying her head in the crook of his neck.
"Ready to go?" Meredith asked, looking at Bailey and Zola as they made their way toward their parents again.
"Yes Ma'am!" Zola said, a big smile on her face as she grabbed her Mom's hand.
Bailey nodded and scrambled to Meredith's feet, "Please?" he asked her sweetly, reaching his arms up.
Meredith smiled down at him and released Zola's hand to pick him up, "How could I say no to such a cute little face?" she asked, kissing his nose, making him giggle as she grabbed Zola's hand again.
"Alright, let's hit it," Derek said, opening the nursery door with his free hand and waiting for Meredith to guide the older kids out before closing it behind them all.
"Grey! Shepherd!," a voice called behind them as they made their way down the hall.
"Uncle Owen!" Zola said excitedly as he ran toward them.
"Hey Munchkin," he said, giving her a high-five.
"Me!" Bailey demanded.
Owen chuckled and gave him one too, "Where were you guys today?"
"Oh umm…" Meredith muttered, glancing over at Derek.
"We uh… had a thing," Derek offered suspiciously, shrugging his shoulders.
"A thing… right," Owen said, not looking convinced, "Well as two members of the board it makes a difference when you're not at the meetings. We'd appreciate more of a heads up next time."
Derek nodded, "Right, we apologize, something urgent came up," he lied, throwing a look at Meredith.
Hotel sex and lunch and ferryboat rides are all very urgent things.
"I'm sorry, but we have to get the kids home," Meredith told Owen, reaching down to rub Zola's back.
"Right, of course," Owen said, shaking his head, "Look, Meredith, about this morning…"
"You know," Meredith chuckled, shaking her head, "now is not the best time to talk about this," gesturing toward the kids.
A look of clarity flashed across Derek's face, "Oh, that's right, you defiled my children," Derek chuckled, bouncing Ellis up and down a little as she started to whine.
Owen groaned, "Look, it was…"
"Daddy, what does de-filled mean?" Zola asked, tugging on his coat.
"It's a grown-up word, you'll learn it in a few years," he promised her, taking her hand.
"But I'm big!" she pouted.
Derek nodded, "You are but you'll get bigger."
"Ok, well," Meredith said awkwardly, "We will talk about this later with you and Amy," she promised, shifting Bailey on her hip.
"Yes," Derek nodded, a smirk on his face, "Why don't you two have some wine with us tonight after we get the kids to bed? 9 o'clock?"
"Oh… well… I'd have to check with Amelia," Owen said, clearing his throat.
"Perfect," Derek smiled, "Come on ladies, let's go," he said, taking Zola by the hand and walking away with his daughters.
"Bye Owen!" Zola called with a wave, before skipping alongside her dad.
"We'll see you tonight. 9 o'clock," Meredith nodded, "Say bye-bye Bailey."
"Buh-bye!" Bailey said with a cheesy grin as Meredith turned around to catch up with Derek and the girls.
"Do you think he believed that?" Meredith asked with a laugh as she caught up with Derek.
Derek snorted, "No, but I'm not concerned considering the encounter you four had with them this morning."
"Right," she nodded, "He has no room to judge."
"None what so ever," Derek smirked at her, looking her up and down as they waited for the elevator.
She looks hot. She always looks hot. How does she do that? Hold a kid and look that hot?
"Derek!" she hissed, "We are surrounded by our children."
He shrugged and kissed Ellis' forehead, "We weren't when we were in the hotel," he chuckled.
She glared at him but it morphed into a smile as she shook her head.
Those hotel activities were definitely not kid-friendly. Conducive to making them? Yes, but that will not be happening anytime soon.
"Mama I want pancakes!" Bailey cheered suddenly, clapping his hands together.
"You want pancakes? For dinner?" she laughed, turning her head to look at him.
"Yeah!" he squealed, bouncing on her arm.
Zola's eyes lit up and she looked up at Meredith, "Me too!" she said, swinging from Derek's arm.
"Well then it looks like we're having breakfast for dinner," Derek chuckled.
Meredith glanced at him, "Seriously?" she snorted a laugh as the elevator 'dinged' notifying them of its arrival.
"Seriously," he mocked her, "It's a thing. People do it, it's called brinner," he said, raising his eyebrows at her.
"Yeah, Mama! It's a thing," Zola nodded with a grin.
"Ok," Meredith laughed, shaking her head as she led her family onto the elevator.
Every heart needs a little MerDer cuteness once in a while - I hope this suffices for now :)