Ellie and Meredith stood awkwardly. Derek was actually standing; his PT session did wonders for him. Bailey finally moved in and hugged him. Ellie had never seen her big brother cry, but tears rolled down his cheeks. That night Bailey and Derek caught up. Ellie was jealous at how easy it was for Bailey to talk to him. There was no awkwardness there. Her whole life people told her she was so much like her father, but right now she felt like she was identical with her mother. Bailey and Derek had pretty much the same personality.
Meredith was so pleased with how things were going. She was aching to be close to Derek but knew things needed to go slow. She spoke with Ellie and was delighted to hear that they really hit it off. Derek and Bailey were now in a weird conversation where they were deep in serious conversation half the time and laughing hysterically the other half. She just couldn't wait for Zola to get here and for them to all be a family again.
Meredith ordered a pizza and Derek and Bailey finally stopped chatting when it was delivered. Bailey walked into the dinning room finally saying hi to his sister. "What's up loser? Glad your ok… really shocked to see you in a cast, it's been like what a month since your last one?" Bailey laughed and hugged his much smaller little sister. Meredith went into the kitchen to get plates as Derek stood watching his two biological children interact. It was amazing. They were so similar but so different from what he could tell. Both were different mixes of their parents but he couldn't tell who looked more like whom.
They enjoyed a pleasant dinner together. Derek loved just watching his family chat. He couldn't wait to see Zola; but knew she'd be in tomorrow. Bailey began unpacking things he brought home from college. Ellie went upstairs. Meredith did the dishes while Derek, enjoying his newfound freedom in his ability to walk, was looking at various pictures on the wall. There was one of Alex, Meredith, Christina, Zola, Bailey, and newborn Ellie at the Joe's, must've been some sort of "meet the baby gathering" he thought by the balloons in the background. There were school pictures of all three of his children through the years, sports pictures, the kids sitting on Santa's lap. Another of Alex holding a 5-year-old Ellie in his scrubs as she kissed his cheek, he could tell they were really close. A picture of Zola and Richard at "special person's day" at school, and a picture of everybody at a softball field. Like the old team, Callie, Arizona, Sofia and Zola, Bailey with Bailey and Tuck, Alex with his arm around Meredith who was holding a pig-tailed Ellie, Richard, Owen, Amelia and Maggie and a lot of other people he didn't recognize. He came to a picture of adorable 7-year-old Ellie in scrubs she barely fit in and ferryboat scrub cap and a smile with missing two front teeth.
"She was you for Halloween three years in a row." Meredith said with a smile on her face. "It was adorable, but killed me inside." He hugged her. "This is a mess. I can't believe my life has passed by and I missed it. I missed all of these memories. And you did it all alone... Meredith it must've been so hard, I'm so sorry." He kissed her cheek. She turned and met her lips to his. The kiss deepened as the wrapped their arms around each other. Just like old times. They stayed downstairs for a few hours. Talking about surgeries to keep their mind off of their harsh reality. They were dying to go upstairs but knew they shouldn't, they needed to take things slow. Plus they were waiting for Bailey and Ellie to go to bed. At 2am, after a couple hours of making out on the couch like teenagers, they finally decided to go upstairs.
They kissed again when they reached the top of the stairs and opened the door to their room. Post it on the nightstand. Derek wanted to grab her and rip her clothes of and throw her to the bed, but he didn't have all of his strength back. He gently eased her over to the bed, hand in her hair. He took off her jeans, then panties. She stood up and took his shirt off. He lifted her shirt over her head and ripped her bra. She squealed in excitement, and then tried to be quiet again, knowing their kids were in the rooms down the hall. She pulled down his pants. They both admired each other. Still so attracted to each other after 15 years, even after their bodies aged slightly. She lay down again, pulling him with her. He laid on top of her pushing his tongue down her throat. She ran her hands through his hair, she loved that she could now see his face and the beard was gone. They teased each other for a little while, still knowing what each other liked, like the past 15 years never happened.. Finally, they were together again, as one. The whole night was magical.