After a long drive home, both cars pulled into the driveway. Ellie rode with Alex he and kept her distracted talking to her about tennis, and school. Meredith and Derek had a somewhat quiet ride home. It was a lot for them to take in. When they pulled up, Derek just stared out the window at the house he built for Meredith. His memory was as if 15 years ago was 2 days ago. The house looked almost the same. The house looked a bit older and there was a tree house to the left of the driveway that he'd never seen, but for the most part, he felt comfort in being home. Alex helped Derek out of the passenger seat and into the chair. Derek was so frustrated at his stiff and weak body and wanted to pour himself into physical therapy. That would have to come later. He needed to help his mind first. They all walked in. All were shocked to find a busy house. Dr. Clark, general surgery resident was there with Dr. Morgan and Dr. Erickson. They were all somewhat close with Meredith and knew of her open door policy. Meredith didn't want the company and was relieved to discover they came to watch Ellis's old surgery tapes and were headed back to the hospital.
Alex had to get to the hospital but said he would be back later to check in. Derek watched as he hugged Meredith and Ellie goodbye. Ellie squeezed him hard and he kissed the top of her head. Derek's heart sank a little with the jealousy that Alex was so close with the daughter he just met. "See ya Shepherd, glad your back." And then it was just the three of them. Derek moved from the wheelchair to the couch with a little help from Meredith. He was pleased with his progress. "I'm going to go shower mom, then I should probably do some homework." Ellie went upstairs and Meredith sat down next to Derek.
"This is crazy." She said leaning against him. "I know. I wish she would talk to me…" He suddenly blurted out. "As much as she is you, she is me. A little dark and twisty and an avoider, she runs when she doesn't know how to handle a situation, and this is a huge thing to handle. She will come around, you two just need time." "Tell me more about her." He said with that McDreamy look. Meredith had the urge to kiss him but resisted. They needed to take things slow.
"Well she was born January 4th 2016. She was early, and tiny, but she was beautiful. Her full name is Ellis Christina Shepherd. Uhh.. what else… She has a photographic memory, like Lexie. She has been classified as a genius, an actual genius Derek. And is being looked at for Division 1 colleges for Tennis. She was a crazy, wild child. That mixed with her brilliant brain, athleticism and an older brother made her constantly getting into trouble, or breaking valuables around the house, our breaking bones. We single-handedly kept the orthopedic wing of the hospital open. I think now with this broken arm she's up to 9 broken bones…."
"Oh wow, you had your hands full." Derek chuckled. "Yea, she was a handful, but she's my person." Meredith smiled.
Meredith got up and put a frozen pizza in the oven. It was only 3 pm but she realized they hadn't really eaten anything today. She saw flowers on the kitchen counter and brought them into the living room. "What's that? Derek asked when he saw the flowers. "They're from Ellie's coach, they say Get Well Soon. Alex must've called him telling him she wouldn't be at sectionals, she's been working so hard for this." Derek looked down. Meredith realized she hadn't checked her phone in a few days. She began listening to voicemails. "Anything important?" Derek asked. "Just calls from Ellie's school about her absences, I should probably call them back." They both knew they were just avoiding more serious conversations.
Not too long after the shower turned off upstairs, Ellie came back down. She sat next to Meredith and rested her head on her shoulder snuggling close. A few tears ran down her face. "What's wrong honey?" Meredith was genuinely concerned; Derek was amazed at how wonderful of a mother she was. Ellie broke down. "My head and arm hurt so bad, and I'm exhausted and I have so much homework due tomorrow…" She was rambling on, Meredith kissed her forehead, brushed her hair out of her face and calmed her down.
"You don't have to go to school tomorrow, El. You've been through a lot. Alex called your coach from the hospital the other day and he knows who won't be at your match. Oh, he sent you flowers."
Ellie didn't respond. She was upset about not being able to compete; this was supposed to be her year. She knew her mom had a lot to deal with and didn't want to worry about her as well as her dad so she didn't say anything. Just then, two teenagers barged into the house. It was Emma and Liam. Emma was Ellie's best friend. They met in kindergarten and were inseparable ever since. Now that they were the only sophomores on the varsity tennis team, they basically spent every waking second together. "SO YOU ARE ALIVE? How could you drop off the face of the earth for 2 days and not even text me- wait what happened?" Emma exclaimed all in one breath. She went from raging made to clearly concerned when she saw the cast. "Long story but I was in a car accident, shoot I'm so sorry I lost my phone in the crash and haven't even had time to think about it since. I'm sorry" Ellie said. Emma hugged her. "I'm so glad your ok, oh no! This means I have to sit alone on the bus to sectionals by myself tomorrow…" She drifted off.
"Em, stop being so selfish jeez.." Ellie met Liam last year. They both had crushes on each other but neither dared to act on it. They grew closer over the past year and Ellie was glad he showed up. "I'm glad you're ok Shep." She smiled. He always called her that, and she loved it. They hugged awkwardly and then became very aware that Meredith was in the room. "Uh hi Dr. Grey, it's nice to see you again." Liam mumbled. "Hi Liam, it's nice to see you too." Emma smiled at Meredith "Hey Mom what's for dinner?" She asked sarcastically. Emma was so comfortable in their house she called Meredith mom. Emma then realized the man sitting on the couch and gave a side-glance to Ellie. "Well… we just wanted to make sure you were ok, I'll call you on your moms cell tomorrow…" And as soon as they arrived they were gone.
"What was that hug?" Meredith smirked and looked at Derek and Ellie. The oven went off. "Pizzas done! I'll get it! Boy, I'm starving, let's eat." She mumbled and ran out of the room clearly avoiding the question. Meredith and Derek laughed. Derek couldn't believe this was the age he had to enter his daughter's life. He didn't like the thought of her with boys but couldn't be a protective dad because he was barely her dad. He tried to push the sadness and anger down.
The three enjoyed a nice quiet night. They ate pizza on the couch, and watched a movie until they all fell asleep. They all woke up when Alex came in. "Hey sorry, didn't mean to wake you just wanted to check in." "We're great thanks Alex, I should've called, you didn't need to drive all the way out here again, you should go be with Jo." Meredith yawned. "Yea well she's pissed I was gone for 2 days so I need to crash here if that's ok." Meredith nodded. "I'm going up to bed, goodnight everybody." Ellie walked upstairs followed by Alex.
"Well you should probably get some sleep too…" Meredith stated awkwardly. "Me, I've been sleeping for 15 years Meredith, you're the one who raised 3 kids alone while being a surgeon and was up for pretty much 48 hours straight." They both laughed. "Oh right, well I'm going to go to bed. Do you think you can walk upstairs?" She asked hopefully. "Unfortunately looks like I'm parked here for awhile." Both were incredibly disappointed. Meredith set him up with pillows and blankets and went to bed. For the first time in 15 years, she slept peacefully.
The next morning Meredith woke up at 10am. The longest she'd slept in in a long time. Ellie walked into her room and lay down next to her. "I don't know what to say to him. I want to talk to him but never think of anything to say." She said with disappointment. "El you have 15 years of experiences to choose from. He's going to want to hear all of it so just be yourself and talk about anything. Talk about the time you and Bailey got stuck together for hours in those handcuffs you found around the hospital. Or Zola's graduation day, when you and Emma got caught in a rainstorm as you walked to the ceremony and you were drenched in every picture we have of that day. They both laughed.
"He already loves you sweetie, and I have a surgery so you will have a few hours to get to know him and you'll see you love him back." They got up and walked down stairs, Derek was still on the couch where they left him watching TV again. "Oh thank god, I'm starving." He said. They all laughed. Alex and Meredith got ready to go to the hospital. Meredith was in the "mom zone" listing off everything everyone needed to do for the day. "Bailey will be getting her later tonight, I have a surgery scheduled for 12pm and 4 pm. I may not be out in time to pick him up. I'll see if Richard can, he's retired, I'm sure he'll want something to do. Derek, make sure she does some homework today. She will tell you it's done, but its not. El- don't forget to feed your father. Ok love you call me if you need anything." She kissed Ellie on the head who was on the couch next to Derek. She looked at Derek. "Love you, sorry these surgeries have been scheduled for months. I'm taking the rest of the week off. I'll send a physical therapist to the house. Have a great day." She kissed him on the cheek like it was still a habit. And with that they were both gone and it was just Ellie and Derek.