Author's note:
Jumping on the holiday fic bandwagon here.
Set somewhere post season 11 of Grey's Anatomy, and long after the ending of Private Practice.
bobbiejelly
I Saw Mommy Kissing Satan
Underneath the mistletoe last night...
"I swear, I did!" Ellis Shepherd bellows from underneath the Christmas tree in their big shared house in Seattle.
"No way!" says Derek Bailey Shepherd, or 'Bailey," as they all call him anyway.
"It's 'I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus,' Ellis," Zola Grey-Shepherd corrects with a sigh.
"And that wouldn't work because dad's dead so-" Bailey begins, until Zola shakes her head at him sternly, warning him not to spoil this secret so early for their youngest sibling.
When she had been younger, she hadn't had any older siblings to taunt her about Santa Claus not really being real, and her being the oldest sibling now, Zola felt a sense of responsibility in holding onto the magic for just a little bit longer.
Bailey had learned the truth from his buddies at school, but so far, Ellis had escaped from such harsh realities, and Zola intended to keep things that way.
"Bailey, why don't you go ask Addison for some more wrapping paper, hey?" Zola asks her brother politely, and Bailey nods, and runs off again, pleased at being bestowed with some more responsibility, or at least, in his mind, he certainly had been.
"Now, Ellis, do you want to tell me what you were talking about? I'm sorry that I interrupted you earlier," Zola says as she keeps up her holiday wrapping.
"I told you! I saw mommy kissing Satan, I wasn't fibbing!" Ellis whines.
"Alright, alright. I believe you," says Zola with a warm smile.
"Thanks, Zo," says Ellis, sighing contentedly. "Can I help you wrap those?" she offers.
Zola contemplates this, she knows that her younger sister genuinely wants to help her with the presents, but she also knows that if Ellis has her hands on the tape, things will very quickly become messy.
"Why don't you go see if Henry wants to wrap presents with you?" Zola tries not to sound too off-put by her sister.
"Henry's with Bailey, he never went to get wrapping paper," Ellis points at her brother, who is currently play-fighting with Henry Montgomery, Addison's son.
"Ah, I see," says Zola. "Well, I guess you can help me then," Zola offers, "why don't you hold the present while I fold over the edges?" Zola suggests, and she's pleased with herself for discovering this solution.
"Sure!" says Elis excitedly, clinging to the gifts and doing her very best to hold them steady.
With the team of the two of them, the presents don't take long to wrap, and soon enough, Zola and Ellis are ready to join the boys to go play outside again.
"Tag, you're it!" Henry pokes Zola, and Zola can't help but run back to chase him. Bailey and Ellis scatter, and the two oldest children make a break for it, running all around the yard until Henry gets tired, and Zola finally catches up to her.
"You're it, finally!" says Zola, as she taps him on the shoulder.
"Oh, goodness, I think I might be exhausted," says Henry, sliding down to the ground against a nearby tree.
"Me, too," says Zola, sliding down to sit against a nearby tree as well. They can see Ellis and Bailey playing off in the distance, so they just sit for a while to catch their breaths as the snow starts drifting down all around them.
"Thanks for letting us stay with you, by the way," Henry says to Zola.
"Hey, don't thank me, it was my mom's idea," says Zola. "But thanks, it's no biggie. It would suck if you had nowhere to stay over the holidays," Zola shrugs.
"Yeah," says Henry. "I think it's good for my mom, too. She's been really down since she and my dad split up," Henry sighs.
"Yeah, I can imagine. My mom was a wreck when our dad died, and I'm not saying that to compare us, because I know Jake's not dead, or anything, but they're divorced, so that's even like, worse," says Zola.
"Yeah," says Henry. "I'm kinda glad for it though," he says. "They were fighting all the time. I don't think either of them was happy," says Henry. "At least now, my mom gets to see her friends again, like your mom," Henry smiles.
"Yeah, and we get to see each other, so that's cool," says Zola.
"Yeah, it's nice. I like Seattle, it's nice to come to visit sometimes. I mean, L. A is great and all, but I like going outside and not getting sand everywhere," says Henry.
"Hey! Don't complain about your awesome beach life!" says Zola.
"Hey, well you don't complain about your awesome woods life," says Henry.
"Deal," says Zola, keeping the peace, as always, and not feeling the need to fight Henry about this one. "Oh, and thanks for being so great with Bailey and Ellis, by the way. Usually, it's just me when mom's out, and they get into everything," says Zola.
"Hey, no sweat," says Henry. "Bailey's a kick, he's getting stronger too. Before I could lift him up with one arm, nowadays I really have to watch out for his sneak attacks," Bailey laughs. "And Ellis always draws me a picture, I gotta get great at drawing so I can make her one, too," says Henry.
"I think she'd like that," says Zola, nodding.
The two of them sit until Bailey cries out, and Ellis comes running towards them.
"We're coming!" Henry yells, as he and Zola run down the hill to the younger children.
"He got a boo-boo on his knee!" Ellis exclaims.
"It's not a small one, but it's not a big one. It's a medium boo-boo," Bailey quantifies.
"Ah, I see. That's quite a scrape. Henry, could you go get-" Zola begins as she examines her brother.
"Betadine, some gauze, some tape, some Neosporin, and a bandage, I got it-" Henry finishes, and runs off before Zola even finishes her sentence.
"I'm gonna ask Satan for some princess bandages for Christmas, if you're still hurt by then do you want one?" says Ellis, while holding her brother's hand while they wait for Henry to come back.
"Sure," says Bailey. "Mom says boys can like princesses, too," he adds.
"They sure can," says Zola supportively. "Hopefully that'll be healed pretty soon though," says Zola.
"Do you think that Satan gives gifts in red boxes like Santa?" Ellis ponders aloud.
"Well, my teacher gives gifts in blue boxes because she says that not everybody celebrates Christmas," says Bailey, missing the meaning of Zola's contemplative expression.
Zola wonders in her head if this has something to do with Ellis having been singing 'I saw mommy kissing Satan," earlier, but she holds off on asking for now, because Henry's returned with the supplies.
"Betaine," Zola says assertively, and Henry hands it to her.
"Is it gonna sting?" Bailey panics for a moment.
"No, it's not gonna sting," offers Zola.
"Are you SURE!?" says Bailey.
"Hey, it's alright, even if it stings, you're pretty tough, right?" says Henry.
"Yeah," says Bailey, and Zola goes to pour on the antiseptic while mouthing a 'thank-you,' at Henry.
Once Bailey is all cleaned up, and ready to go, Henry suggests he give him a piggyback to the house, and Bailey positively beams at him.
"Yipeeeee-" says Bailey, as Zola helps him onto Henry's back.
"Can I have a piggyback too?" says Ellis, looking longingly at Zola, and feeling a little left out.
"Alright, you gotta carry this stuff back though," says Zola, and she hands it to Ellis, who hops on happily.
"Race you!" says Henry.
"Hey, you got a head start!" says Zola, as she sprints to catch up with Henry and her brother.
"We won!" says Bailey, as he touches the doorbell.
"Only by a millisecond!" huffs Ellis, as she gives her brother a high-five, still clutching Zola's back, as Bailey is still on top of Henry's.
"Hey, every second counts!" Henry gloats, and Zola just rolls her eyes at him. "Fine, but we're having a rematch!" says Zola, and Henry grins at her.
"Well, look who it is!" Meredith Grey says excitedly to all of them.
"One, two, three…" Addison Montgomery counts dramatically as she can feel little Ellis sneaking up behind her.
"Boo!" says Ellis, predictably.
"Gah!" says Addison, pretending to be surprised. "Four!" she says, leaning over to tickle Ellis a little bit, until she surrenders.
"I got a cut, but Zola and Henry helped me," says Bailey.
"Hey! I helped too!" says Ellis.
"Yes, she was very helpful," says Zola.
"It doesn't look too bad, I don't think," says Henry.
"Well, thank you, little doctors, all of you, only if you want to be, of course," offers Meredith.
She's chosen not to push any of her kids to be surgeons as her mother had with her, but it appears that all of her children seem interested in medicine all on their own, as is Henry.
"Would you like some milk and cookies?" offers Addison, motioning for them all to come inside, out of the snow.
"Yeah!" all the kids say in unison.
"Thanks, Zola, and Henry," says Meredith to the oldest children, once Bailey and Ellis are out of earshot. "You make a great team," she smiles.
"Thanks," says Henry. "You and mom make a pretty good team, too," Henry adds on, as well.
"Yeah," says Zola. "Also, by the way, Ellis almost found out about Santa Claus, but she didn't, but Bailey knows already," she reports.
"Awe, well thank you," says Meredith. "Now, would you like to go get some cookies and milk from Addison? You certainly deserve it," says Meredith, and Zola and Henry nod before scampering off to catch up with the others.
Meredith giggles as she rearranges the boots onto the mat, and she hands up the coats, smiling because at least, for now, she's got another grown-up in the house to be helping her.
"Do you know any holiday songs?" says Addison in the kitchen, as she heats up the milk over the stove, and puts the holiday cookies on a plate in the middle of the table, along with napkins.
"Yeah!" says Bailey. "Frosty the snowman was a happy, jolly soul…." he sings, getting at least most of the words right.
"Lovely," says Addison.
"O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree..." sings Henry.
"Silent night, holy night…" sings Zola.
"I got one! I got one!" says Ellis, and she's about to sing it when Meredith re-enters the room, and she's lost her train of thought again.
"Do you know that Addison sings?" Meredith asks her three children.
"Yeah, mom. Can you sing the one about the angel voices?" says Henry, supportively.
"O holy night, the stars are brightly shining…" sings Addison, and everyone smiles when Henry joins in to sing with her.
"What's your favorite song to sing, mom?" says Zola.
"Oh, hmm… You know, Arizona used to sing this one, "I really can't stay…" Meredith begins, and she gets through her rendition of 'Baby It's Cold Outside," with some help from Zola, who has learned it from Sofia.
"I wanna sing us a sooooooooooong," says Ellis, sighing frustratedly that nobody's come back to her yet.
"Okay," says Addison.
"Go ahead," says Meredith.
And Ellis smiles big and wide as she starts to sing as loud as she can, "I SAW MOMMY KISSING SAAAAATAAAAAAANNNNNNNN, UNDERNEATH THE MISTLETOE LAST NIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!"
"Wow, that's an awesome song," says Henry supportively.
"I thought Zola said it was 'posed to be 'I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus," says Bailey.
"But it wasn't Santa!" insists Ellis.
"In the song, it's Santa she's kissing," Zola sighs, and explains this again.
"I guess there can be different versions," says Henry, attempting to placate her.
"No, but I did! I saw mommy kissing Satan, right there under the mistletoe ornament! She even said so!" says Ellis with a huff, crossing her arms defensively over her chest.
"Why would mom be saying that…?" Bailey asks aloud.
"But who is 'Satan?' I thought he was a bad guy…?" says Zola.
"Satan is a villain in the Hebrew Bible?" Henry shrugs.
"But why would mom be kissing a bad guy? Addison's not BAD, mom just calls her that sometime, like when she's kissing her!" Ellis protests. "I think she's nice…" she tacks on.
"MOM YOU WERE DOING WHAT!?" says Zola.
"SERIOUSLY!? IN THE LIVING ROOM!?" says Henry.
"What were they doing?" says Bailey.
"Kissing!" says Ellis. "I seen them!" she adds.
"We thought you were asleep…" Meredith says sheepishly, blushing as she looks between her children and Addison.
"We didn't think you'd be downstairs at night…" Addison adds on.
"Wait, but why were you calling her 'Satan,' then?" Ellis asks her innocently, and Meredith immediately facepalms.
"Is Satan like Santa? Does Satan bring presents? Because Ellis said that Satan was gonna bring her princess bandages, and if so, then I want some car-themed ones!" says Bailey.
"Umm, well-" Meredith has no idea what to reply to this.
"We'll just have to wait to see what's under the tree," offers Addison easily.
"Yeah," says Meredith, agreeing with her. "It'll be a surprise," she offers.
"But why do you call her 'Satan,' if she's our Auntie Addison?" says Ellis.
"Oh, it's just an old joke between us…" Addison says a bit uneasily.
"MOM!?" says Henry, horrified.
"Okay, I don't wanna know anymore," says Zola, equally indignant.
"Can I call her Satan too!?" says Bailey.
"Oh, and me!" says Bailey.
"Umm, I think that's going to be a nickname that's just for Meredith to call me," says Addison awkwardly.
"Does she have a nickname for you, too!?" says Bailey.
"I bet she does!" says Ellis.
"Oh gosh, we definitely don't want to know this one," says Zola.
"Agreed," says Henry.
"But-" says Ellis.
"Why?" says Bailey.
"Come on, why don't we go play some more, and I'll teach you the rest of the words to that Christmas song, that isn't about 'Satan,' says Zola.
"Mmkay," says Ellis.
"Alright," says Bailey.
"I'll race you again!" says Henry, moving to chase Zola out of the kitchen.
"Well, that went a little different than we might have expected," says Addison, as she wraps her arms around Meredith in the kitchen, and leans down to plant a solid kiss onto her blonde lover's lips.
"Yeah, it could have been worse," says Meredith, grinning into Addison's lips. "We might have to be a bit more careful about our sneaky makeout sessions though," says Meredith, laughing as she tugs the redhead's lips into her own.
"Whatever you say, Honey Bee," says Addison, as she tucks Meredith's hair behind her ear, and lifts her happily onto the countertop.
***** FIN
Author's Note:
Well, here we have it, a holiday one-shot, and finally getting Henry Montgomery aged here correctly. Have a good one, everyone! And enjoy all of the other holiday fics in the fandom as well :).
bobbiejelly