Children hurt. They are painful. Achingly beautiful. At least that's what he and Meredith had always agreed on as they watched their children grow up. Each one was different. Unique and special in their own way. And their bonds were very distinct.
Meredith and Zola were the best of friends. They were inseparable in many ways. Except Zola wanted to become a neurosurgeon. She wanted to follow in her father's footsteps. He loved that. Their bond was just as inseparable as the one with her mother.
Bailey and Derek were equally tied together. They bonded over sports and fishing. They made trips together and were accomplices in many ways. And above all, Derek treasured the bond with his son as it was one he had lost with his own father when he passed. Bailey and Meredith were close too. He was his mother's son and was proud he was her only son. He was often teased by his sisters because he had been deemed the favorite according to them.
Ellis was a daddy's girl through and through. She had him wrapped around her finger She was a miniature version of his wife- which could often be a problem between the pair. He was often caught in the middle of the crossfire but at the end of the day, the mother and daughter loved each other endlessly.
"Are you nervous?" Meredith asked as she helped with his blue tie.
"About what?"
"You're going to give our Zozo her first white coat," Meredith beamed, "The fact that they're letting you-"
"I know," he nodded with a sigh, "I didn't think they'd let me but it's-"
He drifted off for a moment, picturing a smiling Zola walking towards her mother, a camera in his hand as she finally took her first steps in Meredith's old house.
"It's Zola," Meredith whispered, "I get it."
He looked towards the entrance of the building. He'd contacted old professors, colleagues, and friends who had some pull. Enough to let him be an honorary cloaker so he could be the one to gift his daughter her first white coat.
She had casually mentioned it once when she had come home from her senior year at Dartmouth. A joke really. On a weekend she happened to be home after her letter of acceptance had arrived from Columbia.
"See, this is why you should've taken that job at Columbia!"
"No, your mom and I have been doing research here in Seattle that you'll be reading about when you start in the fall," he chuckled, "I can't leave Grey Sloan."
Zola shook her head, "Not forever, dad, just for like, I don't know, the white coat ceremony."
"What do you mean?" Meredith asked curiously.
"I just- I think it would've been cool if dad had been the one who gave me my white coat. That's all."
Derek looked up from his plate, "One neurosurgeon to the other?"
Meredith could see the glimmer in his eye behind his glasses.
"Yeah, I mean, you're kinda the reason why," Zola smiled.
Years ago Meredith had to explain to her children that their father was in a hospital. Asleep. That he was in a coma so his body could heal. So he could come home. Zola had a million questions. And when her father woke up, he answered each one.
"Well, future Dr. Grey-Shepherd," he cleared his throat, "It would've been my honor. Guess I'll have to settle on watching from the stands."
"You do know the kids are going to expect this from us if they pursue medicine," Meredith chuckled as she waved her other two down to their location.
Derek chuckled, "Yeah, we're totally screwed."
As the elaborate speeches ended, the time had finally come. Student after student crossed the line.
Meredith had been somewhere in the back, with the rest of the families. Bailey and Ellis had also flown in to celebrate a massive milestone. Zola would be receiving her first white coat. At the same medical school her father had once attended. As she approached the stage with her coat in hand, she looked up to the section she had eyed her siblings at. Ellis, Bailey, and her mother waved proudly. Meredith smiled and winked. As if relaying a message she couldn't decipher. As she walked towards her place, she froze.
Bright blue eyes and a proud smile greeted her.
"Daddy!" she whispered, "You-"
He winked and motioned for her to turn. She slipped one arm through each sleeve of her pristine white coat. As she felt familiar hands on her shoulders, she looked up to her mother with the greatest smirk Meredith had seen on her face.
Dr. Zola Grey-Shepherd. That had a nice ring to it.
Out of all the stunts their children could pull off, he never imagined this would be something his son would ever do. It was so unlike him. So out of character that he had been so surprised and taken aback when his daughter called for help.
"We're letting him off with a warning out of courtesy to you, Dr. Shepherd," the man escorting him announced, "You saved my life, I owe you."
"Thank you Officer Rivas, I can guarantee that if this ever happens again," Derek gritted through his teeth as he followed the officer down the hall, "You can keep him here."
Officer Rivas chuckled, "Like Dr. Grey did all those years ago? Like father like son?"
Derek glared at the officer. Clearly, they were friendly but the joke was an awry memory for Derek.
"What? Too soon?" the officer asked with a smirk as he opened the cell, "Mini-Shep, you're out."
The drive back home was silent. Until Bailey tried to fill it.
"Dad-"
"What the hell were you thinking, Bailey?" Derek muttered, "You suddenly turn twenty-one, think you're all grown up, and deck someone at the bar? You're lucky he didn't press any charges!"
"Dad listen-"
"What have I taught you? What has your mother taught you? That temper of yours- Bailey, it's the same one as mine, we put you in all sorts of sports to get it under-"
"I get it, okay," Bailey sighed, "I do. But dad you've told me about the time you decked Uncle Mark-"
"Dammit Derek, that's not why I told you that story!" his father gritted. Rare, if ever, was the time he ever called his son by his first name. He was always Bailey, Bails, or B. Never Derek. Always some fond nickname.
"I told you that story so you could be better than me- to learn from my mistakes!"
"I went out for a drink okay! With my sister! Not a bunch of random guys or friends from college. I went with my older, responsible, well intentioned sister," Bailey insisted, "We were at the bar and some guy-"
"So you went all protective brother on her and punched a guy? What do you think your mother is going to say? Bailey, you could've gotten kicked out of school!"
"Zola doesn't need me to fight her battles dad, she wasn't there when this dumbass-"
"Bailey-"
Bailey let out an exasperated gasp, "Zola is tough. She can handle her own. But Dad, she's my sister."
His father said nothing for a moment.
"I'm sorry you had to bail me out," Bailey continued, "But you've taught me to take care of my sisters, just like you do with Aunt Amy. So I'm not sorry I decked a drunk guy who made a disgusting comment about my sister."
Derek pursed his lips together as he listened to his son. He wasn't always a good brother, he knew that. Especially to Amelia. But his son knew better. His son knew how to be a good brother. He made sure of it.
"Did you put your weight behind it?"
Bailey blinked.
"Y-yes," he stammered.
"Okay then," Derek replied as he released a hand from the steering wheel to squeeze his son's shoulder.
He wasn't wrong. Bailey had always been a good brother. Even if that temper was let loose every now and then.
Harvard. Of course she'd choose Harvard. As far away as she could get. She told him she'd do it when she and Meredith had gotten into that one fight about- actually he forgot. There had been many over the last few years.
He had played referee between the two. Tried to diffuse the situation because he was well versed in everything Meredith Grey. Therefore he was well versed in everything Ellis Carolyn Grey-Shepherd. He was an expert.
"You got everything, kid?" Derek smiled at his daughter as he helped her unload her bags from the rented car, "Sure you don't want to-"
"Yep, I got everything Dad," Ellis answered as she moved her stuff. She hadn't brought much. Only the essentials and clothes. They'd send everything soon, that was the deal. They were too busy to make a road trip from Seattle to Boston. And Ellis had been in a hurry. She was always in a hurry.
"Okay, so you should go check in," Meredith sighed as she nervously looked around, "Are you sure you don't-"
"No mom!" Ellis sighed, "I don't need you to help me set up my dorm, I got it."
"Okay," Meredith breathed out as she turned to her husband. She was nervous. This was her youngest child, and she had tried her best to convince her to go to Stanford or UCLA or anywhere closer to Seattle. But Zola had gone to Dartmouth. And Bailey had gone to Yale. Both far away from Seattle. So why was Ellis any different.
Derek smiled at his youngest and opened his arms to hug her, "I'm proud of you Ells, and if you ever want to come home-"
"I'm not gonna want to come home," Ellis laughed as she embraced her dad, "I'm okay daddy, I promise."
He was her confidant. The person who got her. The man who told her she was worth so much more than some kid who broke her precious heart in high school. Who waited up for her to come home when she snuck out after an argument with her mother. She was the rebel child, so to speak. And he would ground her and would yell, but he was always there.
"I know you are," Derek smiled, "My baby girl's all grown up."
He hugged her once more and turned back to the car.
Meredith bit her lip as she tried to suppress her tears. Her last one. Her youngest. Her baby was moving across the country for college.
"Ellis-"
Ellis rolled her eyes, "I promise I will visit on Thanksgiving, Mom, I promise!"
"No- it's just that-" Meredith stammered. Ellis reminded her of herself. Their arguments and spats, all mimicked the spats that she once had with her mother. Except, her own daughter called her overprotective and overbearing.
She tried to be everything Ellis was not.
"Look, I get it," Meredith licked her lips, "I'm a lot, okay, I know I am. I am overbearing, but Ellis, I love you. And you are my daughter. Along with Zozo and Bails, you are my Ellie Belle."
Derek leaned against the side of the car and watched the mother and daughter duo.
He'd watched them fight. Watched them make-up. Watched them learn from each other because they weren't always easy.
"I will be here for you. Annoyingly. Overbearingly," Meredith shook her head, "And it's hard for me, because you're my youngest, but you're right."
"I am?"
"Yes," Meredith gulped, "You're extraordinary, Ellis."
Ellis stood there in shock as she uncrossed her arms. Her mother could be a lot, that was true. But just like her father, Meredith had been the one to sit with her all night as she cried herself to sleep when her heart was broken. She had been the one who encouraged her to do anything she wanted. To not limit herself to what Bailey and Zola had done. She was her mama. And despite their differences- or similarities- they loved each other.
Derek glanced down at his shoes and then back up only to see a smile on his wife's face and tears welling in his daughter's eyes. It had taken them a while, but they were healing.
"Okay," she whispered, "We'll call you when we're home."
As Meredith turned back to the car, Ellis shouted out, "Mom?"
Meredith turned only to crash with the arms of her daughter. Ellis looked up at her dad with tears in her eyes only to be greeted with his soft smile and a wink. He was proud of her, she knew it. Proud that despite their differences, she had found some common ground with her mother.
Derek got closer to the pair and embraced them, pressing a kiss on his daughter's head. Ellis let go and whispered, "I love you guys."
She squeezed Meredith's hands and turned, glancing one last time before the married pair went back into the car.
Back to Seattle.
The doors jangled as Derek unlocked the door. He opened it and let Meredith in. She'd been quiet the entire way home. Not that it bothered him. They could fall into a comfortable silence and be content with solely their presence. But he knew better. She was processing the days events.
"I could use a shower," he threw the keys on the counter, "Unless you want to take one first. Or-"
"That's three for three," Meredith whispered.
"What?" Derek asked confused, "What's three for three?"
"They're gone," she looked around the room as if she were trying to find something, "All three of them. They're gone."
"Well, two have been out of the house for a whi-"
"Derek, we raised our kids," she looked up at him. His eyes were filled with confusion. She could see it through the glass of his black framed glasses.
Meredith's eyes filled as she giggled, "And they're okay. We raised our kids and they're okay. We didn't- I didn't- I mean I always knew you would be- but I-I- with my mother and my father- I was sure-"
Wasn't it just yesterday when she and Zola were home sick watching movies? When Zola and Derek were watching Amy do a surgery from the gallery? When Derek signed up Bailey for hockey only for him to hate it and beg for baseball instead? When Bailey came home with flowers he picked at school for her birthday? When Derek held Ellis for the first time and cried at the thought of almost missing out on watching her grow up? When Ellis begged and begged for her parents to remarry?
How did it all end so fast?
She licked her lips as she looked around again, "Our kids grew up and I didn't screw them up. My crappy babies grew up."
"Yeah," he chuckled as he nodded, "Our crappy babies grew up."
Meredith let out another giggle with a long breathe.
"We have the house to ourselves now," he smirked.
Meredith looked around the house, "We have this big house to ourselves."
Their Dream house. The house Derek built. The house where they spent some of their happiest moments. And some of their darkest.
The home that watched their children grow.
Their children grew up. It hurt. A lot.
But above it all, it was beautiful. The sight of it all was spectacular.
A/N: Was I inspired by a certain set of pics from a production currently filming reshoots with a certain alumni from Grey's? Maybe, but I also wanted to add to the little epilogue from my one-shot ending. Thanks for reading! I appreciate your reviews!
