If I'm honest, I didn't think this chapter is exactly my best writing! But it should be enough to tide everyone over! :)
Enjoy! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Grey's Anatomy. Not the characters. Not the plot. Not anything. Nor do I own anything to do with the NHL. At all. But it would be pretty cool if I did.
She had chickened out the night before, so it was now or never. Ellis was coming tomorrow, and neither Derek or Aiden knew yet. She thought she'd try Derek first. He was back early from the ice rink so she could talk without Aiden interrupting them.
"Can I talk to you?" she asked, playing with her wristwatch.
"Shoot," he said, sitting down at the kitchen counter.
"My mother is coming. Tomorrow. And she's staying here, she only told me yesterday and I chickened out so I'm telling you now, and she wants to meet you, and see Aiden, who she hasn't seen for years, he doesn't even know who she is. And now you're going to be subjected to her interrogation and she's going to tell you you're not good enough for me or that I don't need a man and all of that shit. She'll drive you away from me. Just, promise me you won't leave," she rambled.
"Did you breathe at all during that?" he raised his eyebrows.
"Shut up," she smacked him lightly. "I mean it Derek, she won't like you, she doesn't like anyone. She thinks she knows what's best for me. But she hasn't since I was 5 and took me away from my dad."
"Hey," he muttered, standing up from his seat and putting his arms around her.
"I can take the interrogation. I had to meet her at some point. And I swear to you, she will not drive me away. No one could do that, I love you too much, I love Aiden too much. If anything, it'll make me closer, because I know that her opinion will wither be wrong or completely disregarded. Because like you just told me, she doesn't know what's best for you and she hasn't seen you in years. I'll still be here." He finished by kissing her forehead lightly.
"Thank you," she mumbled into his chest.
"Not a problem. I'm here whenever you need it, you know that" he murmured into her hair. She fell into his embrace and hoped that he would still believe that after he met her.
xxxxx
After they had brought Aiden home and were settled at the dining table a few hours later, Meredith decided to tell him.
"Sweetie."
"Yeah Mom?"
"You know how Derek's parents are your grandma and grandpa?"
"Yeah," he replied, mouth full of potato.
"Well. You actually have another grandma. She's my mom. But I don't see her a lot. The last I saw her was when you were only a few months old. Which was also the last time she saw you."
"How come?" He asked, confused.
"Well, Grandma Ellis, that's her name, didn't think that I could do it by myself. And I guess she wanted me to prove her wrong."
"And you did?"
"Well, you're still here aren't you," she smiled, though it faltered slightly. It hurt that her own mother didn't believe in her or have the common decency to help her through the sleepless nights. Her friends had done that. She felt Derek sneak his hand into hers and squeeze. Squeezing it back tightly, she started again.
"The thing is, Grandma Ellis is a busy person, so she doesn't have a lot of free time. She's only here for a few days anyway."
"When is she coming?"
"Tomorrow."
"What if I don't like her?"
Meredith really didn't know how to respond, she didn't like her mother to start with, how could she expect her son to.
"Well bud," Derek jumped in, "how about, if you really don't like her, then you can stick with me and watch my practice tapes. I'll still pick you up from school so you can stay with me the whole time."
Aiden nodded faintly; he didn't want to meet someone who clearly didn't want them. Even at five-years-old, he was extremely perceptive and understood that Grandma Ellis made Mom sad, and that was never good. He was fiercely protective without knowing it, so by default, he was already wary of Ellis.
xxxxx
Wednesday came around quickly and Derek made sure he could skip practice and be with Meredith so he could meet Ellis first, try and break the ice.
The bell went around 11:00 and Meredith's head shot up, staring at him wide eyed. Worriedly, she got up from her armchair and went to open the door. Derek stood behind her protectively. He had heard what Ellis had done to Meredith when she had confided everything to him one night. He wasn't especially bothered whether Ellis liked him, she clearly didn't care for her daughter the way she should. But it would ease Mer's mind so he would do it for her.
"Meredith," Ellis announced, her mouth a thin line.
"Mom," Meredith attempted to smile.
"And I suppose you are Derek?" She looked at him.
"I am," he gave his most charming smile, "it's a pleasure to meet you. Can I take your coat?"
"Thank you," she handed it to him, and he hung it on one of the hooks.
"Come in Mom."
Ellis stepped over the threshold to look around. "It looks much the same. I trust you haven't completely graffitied it."
"I haven't Mom. And Aiden cleaned up his toys yesterday so there hopefully won't be any toy cars rolling around," she joked.
"Yes. Now, I am going to clean up and I expect you, Derek, to be in the kitchen so that I can talk to you when I come down. Meredith, you'll leave us alone please."
"Yes Mom," Meredith said timidly. This wasn't the Meredith he knew and loved. She completely retracted into her shell around her mother. It should be the complete opposite. Just this short interaction was already making his blood boil. Begrudgingly, he sat in the kitchen as Ellis came back down, he kept a discreet eye on Meredith who was clearly eavesdropping, though she was facing the opposite way to them.
"Now Derek. I hear you play ice hockey. Why did you think that this was a suitable profession?"
"Honestly? It was my dad's passion. He was never really good enough to play," he laughed, "but loved the sport. And I felt the same, except I was a better than my dad. As soon as I stood on that ice rink, I felt that rush. Largely like the one of surgery, of course it's nothing compared to saving a life, but it's something that I don't feel anywhere else."
"What will you do if you're injured? How do you expect to pay living expenses? Are you relying on Meredith?"
"I have a bit of money stashed away in case such a thing happens, but we get paid leave for our injuries. After all, unless it's a fight, the majority of the time it won't be our own fault. So no, I won't have to rely on Meredith."
"Why should I believe you are a good partner for Meredith? In my personal opinion, I find that men do no more than to suck you of your soul."
Derek gulped slightly; this woman really didn't like him. But he was adamant to do well for Mer, so he answered truthfully.
"I make her happy Dr. Grey. And vice versa. I love her and Aiden unconditionally and I couldn't imagine doing anything less. Your daughter is the most amazing woman I've ever met. She is raising a beautiful little boy and doing such an amazing job. And if I really was bad for her, she is smart enough to realise it and strong enough to cut me from her life. But I promised her that would never happen, unless she wants it to, because she's the love of my life. I couldn't love anyone else even if I tried."
Ellis narrowed her eyes slightly, as if gauging whether or not it was the truth. She finally conceded and Derek released a breath as she got up and invited Meredith back in. He hoped that had gone well, though he really couldn't tell. Now all that was left was Aiden.
xxxxx
Aiden sat guardedly opposite his grandma, debating whether or not to open his mouth.
"Hello Aiden" she smiled.
"Hi," he replied, not even trying to fake a smile.
"It's nice to see you again."
"Yeah, I guess," he fiddled with his hands, much like his mother did.
"How's school?"
"It's good, we're doing addition."
"That's great. It's a good skill to have… Can I ask you something?"
He nodded unperceptively.
"Do you like Derek?"
The boy's little face lit up. "I love Derek. He's basically my dad, he does all the dad stuff. He loves me and protects me; he says it all the time. He tells Mom too. Mom smiles when he does so that's good, and Mom loves him too," the boy grinned.
Ellis took note of this and carried on, hoping that she was finally getting to know this little boy. Her grandson. She wasn't a monster. She did love Aiden. She just didn't come to Seattle a lot, so she would try and take this chance.
"If you want, I can tell you some stories from when your Mom was little?"
"Really?" he enquired.
"Of course," she smiled. Finally, hopefully this would go well, and Meredith wouldn't resent her so much.
xxxxx
Meredith was surprised at how Aiden ended up liking her mother. Though she was thankful for it, she hoped he didn't get attached and expect her to be as available as Grandma Carolyn was. Her trip was pleasant enough and she left on the Friday, presumably to go back to Boston. Derek apparently passed with flying colours and she had been surprised when Ellis had told her not to let him go. Ellis was never sentimental, so that was saying something. But Meredith wasn't prepared to let him go anyway, she hoped she would never have to.
For now, though, she was doing her rounds with her interns. At the last room, Meredith sighed. She hated kid patients. This kid had a malignant tumour the size of a golf ball in his frontal lobe. Which wasn't great to start with but what made it worse was that it was cancer, and this boy would be here for a while. She wasn't looking forward to this.
She entered the room, asking one of the interns to read the sheet.
"Ryan Miller. 16. Suffering from a large malignant brain tumour in the frontal lobe. Suffering from seizures and nausea and vomiting."
"Hello Ryan, how are you feeling today?"
"Oh ya know, about a 7," he smiled weakly, "but it's better than it would have been because the Kraken won the other day. The Flames can go suck it."
Meredith laughed, seeing Aiden in this teenage boy, it saddened her that this boy couldn't be on the ice where he clearly belonged but she sure as hell wouldn't rest until he was.
She was given the case and took him to CT, just to check that his tumour hadn't grown larger. She chatted away to him the whole time and in turn wheeled him back to his room.
"Favourite player?" She asked.
"Easy, Mark Sloan. I'm a defenceman myself, and we don't get enough credit. So Sloan. But Shepherd's pretty good too, you know they're basically adopted brothers?"
"Oh, I know," she laughed. She knew all too well, every time she saw them together, whether it was at games or at Sunday dinner, they were still little kids at heart. It got annoying sometimes!
"Derek Shepherd is my boyfriend, I know Mark by default."
"He's your boyfriend?" he asked in wonder. "My friends and me would kill to meet them. They're easily the best players on the team."
"I'll be sure to tell him that. Like his ego isn't big enough already," she giggled.
Ryan laughed with her. She was happy this kid wasn't completely dampened by his situation; some people gave up pretty quickly. But kids were always the strongest. He would get through this.
xxxxx
He was taken into surgery the next day and Meredith worked hard with Dr. Patrick to get all of the tumour. But it was complex. Stubborn to the point of wrapping itself around vessels that would burst if they weren't careful. Meredith went into the scrub room dejectedly. They had barely got half of it; they would have to go in a second time and then likely a third. She would study up tonight, which would probably mean falling asleep on the sofa at an ungodly hour. She had to do this for Ryan, he deserved to live the rest of his life.
xxxxx
A week or two later, Meredith was grinning. The surgery was a success and now Ryan would just need two months of chemo and he would be free of the awful disease. He had woken up two days before and she had a surprise for him. She waltzed into his room and found his parents with him, as well as his older sister.
"Morning Ryan," she smiled.
"Dr. Grey," he grinned, the bandage around his head was the only thing showing that he had ever been ill. Otherwise, he was the picture of health.
"How are you feeling?" she did the normal exam, making sure that he was healing as well as he appeared to be.
"About a 9. It would be higher but I'm kind of hungry."
"Okay," she laughed, "maybe your sister can get you something but before she does, I thought you deserved something for getting through surgery, so I brought you something."
"Dr. Grey, you really didn't have to," Mrs. Miller insisted.
"It wasn't a problem. I promise you."
She sent Derek a quick text and he and Mark poked their heads through less than a minute later.
"I hear someone had surgery," Derek grinned.
"Oh my god," Ryan stared at them, then back to Meredith.
"It's great to meet you man. Anyone who survives brain surgery is due of my respect," Mark spoke.
"Wow."
"You good Ryan?" Derek grinned.
"I'm dreaming. Somebody pinch me."
"You're not dreaming. I promise," Meredith smiled.
"Apparently you're a fan of hockey. And you play. Got any games you're gonna play soon?" Mark asked.
"Um… yeah."
Meredith slunk out of the room to leave the three of them to it. Ryan deserved it, he had survived brain surgery and was recovering from cancer, he deserved a little joy.
xxxxx
"Have you got the invitation yet?" Amelia asked.
"What invite?"
"Okay, so you haven't. It's a wedding invite. To my cousin's wedding. We've all got to go, it's in April. The only trouble is I'll be drowning in all the sweetness and uh; I'm going to kill myself," she grumbled. Amelia was still trying to recover from various baby showers and celebrations that she had enjoyed but found all too sickening, despite them having happened several months ago.
"I'll see if I have it when I get home. When did you and Link get it?"
"Yesterday," she shrugged.
"Alright. I'll have to buy a dress. I hate dress shopping."
"You hate dress shopping? I've got to find one that will fit around my fat ass."
"You're not fat Amy, you grew a human," she rolled her eyes.
"Same difference," Amelia complained.
"It'll be fine. The only person who really cares is Link and he loves you."
"I'm glad someone's trying to be optimistic."
"I know. Weird right?" she smirked.
"Are you, Link and Nat are going to Mom and Dad's on Sunday?"
"Of course, when do we ever miss it."
"Well, never. But Mom would kill you if you did," Meredith laughed. She had taken to calling Derek's parents Mom and Dad after they had started insisting, seeing as it wasn't like she was going anywhere any time soon. Once she fell into the habit, she couldn't stop and found herself referring to them in the term of affection when she wasn't even in their presence.
"That's true," Amelia laughed.
The pager's annoying, chirpy bleep started up from both their hips. They gave each other a look and scrambled from the table. They had both hoped for a slow day today.