It was late when Meredith finally came home.
"I am so sorry!" she exclaimed, waking Derek who had fallen asleep on the couch in front of an old Mariners and Reds game. He jerked himself awake and looked at Meredith for a moment.
"Oh, that's okay. Cassy was fine. She's a good kid. You have a kid?" asked Derek, looking questioningly at Meredith. She nodded. She had a slight idea this was going to end up messy.
"She tells me she's eight," said Derek. "Mind you she's as eloquent as a fifty-eight year old. Eight would mean…?"
"Eight would mean I had sex eight years ago. Eight would mean 11.28pm. Eight would mean I'm tired. Eight would mean thank you. Eight would mean I really don't want to discuss Cassy's conception. Thankyou," Meredith added, "For minding her."
"You're welcome. I'd better head back to my hotel." Derek nodded toward Meredith awkwardly. She saw him out the door.
- - -
Derek sat in his car.
"Eight. Eight would mean…the start of her internship."
- - -
Meredith went up to Cassy's room where she was sleeping like a baby, curled up in the foetal position, just as Meredith always had and always would sleep. She pushed back the wisps of hair that fell into her closed eyes, and kissed her forehead gently.
"Cass, I'm home baby," said Meredith quietly. "Cassy?"
"Mom?" Cassy murmured.
"Mmm-hmm," said Meredith. Cassy sat up and then followed Meredith to her room, and clambered into Meredith's bed. She lay down beside her mom sleepily.
"Derek is really nice," whispered Cassy. "He looked after me well."
"Of that I have no doubt. Sorry I didn't pick you up," Meredith said. "I had this hemispherectomy. It was amazing, it…"
"Mom, how did you and Derek meet?" asked Cassy, who didn't particularly care about the joys of hemispherectomy's and the like.
"Mmm, our friend Joe," said Meredith sleepily. "Cass, honey, go to sleep." The red fluorescent light of her clock flicked to 11.54.
"He said you met when you were on you internship?"
"Yes," replied Meredith. "We did."
"How long ago was that?" Cassy asked. "Roughly."
"Roughly…8 or 9 years ago. But I haven't seen him in about that long."
- - -
The next morning, Cassy spread peanut butter on her toast.
"Hey!" exclaimed Meredith, snatching the knife off her. "Have some toast with your peanut butter. Cassy, are you okay?"
"Of course I am. Who is picking me up today?"
"I'm really sorry about that yesterday, honey, you know that sometimes happens. But mom will pick you up today for sure. What's this?" She pulled a sheet out of Cassy's bag. "Washington State Spelling Bee? They asked you again? Honey, that's great!"
"Yeah it is, hey. I've been given 1000 words that might pop up, so you can test them on me, okay?" Cassy perked up.
"Sounds like a plan, baby. You ready? I got to get to work, so I have to drop you a bit early. Is that okay?" Meredith looked apologetically at Cassy.
"Actually, no it's not," said Cassy. "Mom it's seven. School doesn't think about opening till 8.30. Can I come to work with you for a bit? Then you can drop me at nine? Please?"
"Well, okay. But I'm going to have to work. So you'll have to wait in the waiting room, or with Dr. Webber…or something, okay?" Cassy compliantly nodded.
- - -
They arrived at Seattle Grace, busier than Cassy had ever seen it. Meredith kissed Cassy's head, and grabbed her hand, leading her hurriedly through crowds of nurses, interns, and residents and attending surgeons. Meredith herself was an attending in neurology, cardiothoracic and respiratory; and a good one at that. They came to the waiting room where Meredith gave Cassy some money to buy snacks, and then patted her back.
"I'll be back at 8.30 to take you, okay?"
"What if you get stuck in surgery?" asked Cassy.
"We'll play it by ear, okay? Don't worry, bookworm, you'll get to school."
Cassy did not wait in the waiting room as Meredith had expected. It was full of tattered copies of magazines, a sad sign of other people waiting; waiting for life, waiting for death. Cassy was an inquisitive person at the best of times, and when she was bored even more so. She left the waiting room and decided to explore what she could of Seattle Grace.
She was walking down a corridor when she heard a familiar voice. It was her mom.
"Meredith, please tell me!" the voice was pleading, and Cassy thought it might have been Derek. She didn't know his voice well enough, but it had the soothing Doctor tone that she'd noticed last night.
"There is nothing to tell," said Meredith. "Please, leave me alone."
"Meredith, she looks like me!" Derek hissed.
"Coincidence and nothing else. She looks like Finn, too, don't you think?" Meredith tried to look Derek in the eyes, but couldn't. Derek noticed.
"Meredith, please."
"Where's Addison?" she asked him.
"It's a long story, and don't change the subject. C'mon Meredith. I'm back. I signed my contract with Webber this morning. Let's be friends. Tell me about Cassy."
"Let's be friends! You have got to be kidding! Please, Derek thankyou for picking Cassy up, but please don't try to be my friend; you're not good for me."
"I'll come to your place at about 9 tonight, okay? You tell me about Cassy, I tell you about Addison. Fair deal? Okay." Derek didn't wait for an answer, but walked off, not giving Meredith the opportunity to object. Cassy ran back to the waiting room, trembling slightly, eager to learn more, but scared at the same time.
"Pandemonium. P-A-N-D-E-M-O-N-I-U-M. Pandemonium."
"Upheaval. U-P-H-E-A-V-A-L. Upheaval."
"Shit. S-H-I-T. Shit."
- - -
One thing you need to know about Cassandra Ellis Grey is that she's a tough nut and as sharp as a knife. She can pinpoint tension in it's most miniscule form and has been fed not only on graham crackers, grapes and spaghetti bolognaise, but on Jane Austen, Henry James, The Bronte Sisters and Shakespeare. In her spare time, Cassy enjoyed perusing her mom's anatomical textbooks. She could locate the kidney's with her eyes closed, and could recite the symptoms of appendicitis off the top of her head. Unfortunately for Meredith and Derek she also knew how long the gestation period lasted, and was a killer at recognising a fatal attraction – even if only one half was present.