Disclaimer: If we owned Grey's Anatomy Meredith and Derek would be getting more than 1.5 minutes together during an episode.
My heart thudded in my chest as we drove closer and closer to what may very well be my doom. And I could just imagine how nervous Meredith must be. I wanted her to meet my family. She had to eventually, because her and Dillon were my family. I wanted her to meet them, but that did nothing to calm the nerves in my stomach. My family would love her, they had to love her. Everything was going to be fine. I still wasn't quite sure how I had convinced her to come. It had been a sneak attack, and I had used Dillon's big blue eyes to con his mother. Over ice cream after the doomed fishing trip, I had told Dillon that my mommy wanted to meet him and his mommy. He had warmed to the idea immediately, and had no qualms about begging his mom for this. I was a sad pathetic person. Using a six year old. I was almost Mark. But better.
I looked to the back to find Dillon sounds asleep, Sam in his arms. He had been to excited to sleep last night and it was obviously catching up with him now. I turned to look at Meredith, to find her chewing her bottom lips and fiddling with her fingers. "Mer, you okay?" I asked.
"What?' she turned to look at me, her eyes wide. I knew she hadn't been sleeping very well lately. And as much as I wanted to help her, she had a tendency to pull back into herself. It was Lucas, of course. He had called Meredith and demand to have Dillon for the weekend, but Meredith had refused. Lucas exhausted her. And he worried her. But at this moment, I knew it wasn't Lucas bothering her.
"Meredith, they're going to love you," I told her for what felt like the hundredth time since she had given in. But that's okay, I can be patient.
"What if they don't?" she sighed. "I'm not the type of girl parents love. In fact, I'm not the type of girl you take home. I like tequila. And one night stands and I'm really bad at intimacy and parents. What if they don't? What if your mom thinks I'm some kind of gold digging floozy or something? And...well, what if they don't?"
"That's not possible. You're amazing, and brilliant, and perfect for me Meredith. And they'll love you for it. And please remember, you don't love one night stands any more. If you even think of having a one night stand..." I threatened, letting the sentence trail off into an easy laugh.
She let out a strained laugh, but the worry was still prevalent in her eyes. "We're moving really fast, Derek."
"I know we are. It's just...with you, this all feels right," I told her, reaching over to hold her hand. "But if you need to slow down we can."
She squeezed my hand and sighed. "I don't know," she admitted. "Dillon loves you. He practically worships you. He says you surgeoned a fish, but then says something about a secret for life or longer. And I love you. I, just, I don't know. What if they don't like me?'
"Meredith, I'm quite one hundred percent certain that it's impossible to not like you," I told her, smiling broadly at her.
"I'm sorry, I'm freaking out," she sighed. "It's just, with everything. I don't know. Lucas and Dillon. And you and Dillon. And everything. And Lucas. And everything is just so, I don't know."
"Mer, it's okay. You're allowed to freak out," I told her, giving her a warm half smile. "You have me. Everything is going to work itself out."
"What if it doesn't?" she murmured. "He wants to take Dillon. He wants to take him and Dillon...Dillon's everything. He's my life. And you're in my life. And Lucas was in my life and he still is because he's Dillon's dad. And Dillon loves him but I can't stand to see him anymore. And what if nothing works out. And I'm meeting your parents. And Dillon has a broken arm. And you got ice cream on his Thomas the Tank Engine shirt."
"I said I was sorry about the shirt. And it will work out. No court would take him away from you. You're the most amazing mom, you'll keep him. We'll keep him. Dillon isn't going anywhere," I said. Although I was scared myself. I couldn't imagine mine and Meredith's lifes without Dillon. But Meredith didn't need me to be scared right now.
"I turned my back and he climbed a tree, Derek," she whispered. "And he broke his arm. And he bumped his head. He could have died. I'm an awful, terrible mother. I don't know the first thing about being a parent."
"You gave up med school for him. You make him into a Dillon-rito every night. You pushed me away, you ignored your own feelings because you always put Dillon first, Mer. The falling out of a tree thing, it happens. When I was 4 I walked into a pool and nearly drowned, no one took me away from my mom. Mistakes happen," I reassured her.
She sighed as we came up to my mom's house and I inwardly groaned. I had thought this would be the usual small Shepherd family gathering, my sisters, Mark, maybe a brother in law, and my mom. Instead, from the looks of things, the entire Shepherd clan was here for Sunday dinner. "Is this it?" she turned to me, fear clouding her green eyes.
I nodded silently, squeezing her hand tightly. "You can do this, Mer."
She sighed and turned to the back. "Dillon. Dill, we're here."
I turned around to find Dillon moving around, in the process of waking up. "I get to meet my new grandma?" he asked, excitement coming through his sleepiness.
Meredith bit her bottom lip and then turned to me. "Um, Dill, Derek's mom is, well..." She trailed off and stared at me, her eyes begging me to answer.
"My mom is just as excited to meet you as you are her, bud," I answered avoiding the grandma issue entirely. Because my mom would want to be called grandma, she had been calling Dillon grandson since the second she heard about him.
"Yay!" he grinned, now fully awake and trying to unbuckle his seat belt. "Derek, can I take Sam in? He doesn't like to be in the car by himself."
"Of course you can, my mom will want to meet him too," I told him, moving to get out of the car and let him out of the back seat.
"Good," Dillon nodded and then looked down at his bear. "Sam, you gotta be good. Mommy says if we're not nice and 'spectful, we won't get dessert. So be nice and 'spectful."
We were all out of the car by now, so I took Meredith's hand as we walked up the path to the house. "Breathe, Mer, just remember to breathe," I whispered in her ear.
"I'm breathing," she sighed, though it was obvious she hadn't been. "Dillon, please remember to use your manners."
"I'll be good, Mommy!" he told her, smiling up at the both of us.
"Okay," Meredith sighed. "Now, you have four sisters, right?"
"Yep," I nodded. "Nancy, Kathleen, Leah and Erin."
"Okay," she nodded. "I can do this."
"You can," I told her confidently, ignoring the nerves that were swimming in my own stomach. No matter how much faith I had this was my family, meeting my Meredith and my Dillon. It was damn scary. I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.
My mother had to have been waiting by the door. There was no other explanation for how quickly the door flung open. She smiled widely and then embraced me. "Derek! I'm glad to see you could finally make it to a family dinner." She was definitely still pissed about me cancelling the last two times.
"Sorry, Mom. Important surgeries," I tried to explain, again, hugging her back and then stepping a way and resting an arm on Meredith's back. "This is Meredith and Dillon," I said proudly.
Dillon looked up at her, the smile suddenly dropping from his face as he held Sam closer. "Is nice to meet you," he mumbled quietly, more to his bear than to my mom.
Dillon was playing shy. I hadn't known Dillon very long but in the time I had I had never seen him anything close to shy. "It's nice to meet you too," my mom responded crouching down to his level.
"My name is Dillon Grey and I'm six," he said softly. "And this is Sam. He's six too."
"Well Dillon and Sam, welcome to my home. There's some other little kids around the house too that would love to meet you two," she told him ruffling his hair like I always do.
"Really?" a smile finally broke free. "Mommy, can I go play with the other kids?"
"Of course you can," Meredith all but whispered. "Behave yourself."
"Did you hear that, Sam?" Dillon said to his bear as he ran off to look for my nieces and nephews, "we gotta behave yourself."
As soon as Dillon was gone my mom's attention switched to Meredith. "So nice to finally meet you," she said, pulling Meredith into the tight hug I had grown up with.
"Oh, um," Meredith was already stammering, "it's nice to meet you, Mrs. Shepherd. Really nice. You have a beautiful home. And uh, Derek's told me so much about you. And um, your home."
My mom laughed warmly. "Derek's told me a lot about you as well. You and your son have my son wrapped around your tiny fingers."
"Oh," Meredith sighed, looking at me. "I know he's missed some family dinners and I'm sorry. I mean, sometimes he's at the hospital and sometimes he's at our house. And Dillon loves him. And I'm rambling, aren't I?"
"Yes, hun, you are," I said, pulling her close to me and pressing my lips against her forehead quickly. "She's a little nervous. And when she's nervous she rambles," I explained to my mom.
"That's fine, dear," my mom laughed. "Derek paces. Just like his father. He could burn a hole in the carpet with all of his pacing."
"Yeah. I've noticed. He's paced before, with me. I've seen him pace," Meredith said, giggling nervously and looking up at me.
"Great, thanks for ganging up on me," I rolled my eyes. "So, Mom, is the entire Shepherd clan here?"
"Yep, they all showed up tonight, even Markie," my mom said, smiling in a way that made it quite obvious everyone had planned on showing up in the first place.
"Markie?" Meredith turned to me, a question in her eyes.
"Apparently you finally get to meet the infamous Mark. I'm sorry," I told her sincerely. Meredith had barely been ready to meet my mom. And Mark was...Mark.
"Now, come inside!" my mother stood to the side. "Everyone is in the kitchen. Dinner will be ready in about 15 minutes."
'Mer, you okay?" I asked her quietly, noticing the familiar panic in her eyes.
"Your mom is nice," she whispered to me. "But everyone. I mean, your sisters and their husbands. And their kids. And Mark. Derek, seriously?"
"We can turn around and leave now if you want. You might never get your son back, but we can leave, " I volunteered an escape route.
Before she could answer, Mark entered the foyer, a huge smile on his face. "Ah, Shep, is this the infamous MILF?"
I turned and looked at Meredith's wide eyes and mouthed a quick I'm sorry. And then I turned back to the ass that was like a brother. From a very different mother. "Mark, this is Meredith, she has a name. Meredith this is Mark, you don't have to talk to him. Ever."
"Of course you have to," he flashed a grin at her, the grin that caused millions of drunken girls everywhere to swoon. "No one can resist Mark Sloan. You know, you are way out of Derek's league."
Meredith giggled softly and looked at me and then at Mark. And then at me again. And back and forth. "I am?"
"Definitely," he winked at her. "You'd do much better with someone like me. You know, I love kids. I do."
Meredith looked at me, confused, pleading and overwhelmed. "I won't be insulted if you spend the rest of your life ignoring him," I told her.
"Mommy, Mommy!" Dillon came running in, Sam still in his hand, but a huge smile on his face. "There's a train set! I want a train set!'
Meredith laughed, really laughed for the first time that day. Actually for the first time since Dillon's accident. "You'll have to ask Santa about that at Christmas."
"Okay!" Dillon nodded and then turned to Mark, who was surveying him with interest. "Hi, I'm Dillon Grey. And I'm six. And I'm in school. This is Sam. He's six too. And he's a bear. What about you?"
Mark shot me a skeptical look and I couldn't help but smirk at him, wondering how Mark who tended to avoid all the kids in the family would handle this one. "I'm Mark Sloan, I'm Derek's best friend. And I'm definitely not 6," Mark said, sticking his hand out to shake Dillon's.
"How old are you?" Dillon asked seriously. "Are you old like Derek? Cause Derek's forty. And that's old."
"I guess I'm old then," Mark said grimacing. "I don't look as old as Derek, do I?"
"You look older," Dillon said. "Do you surgeon too?"
"Surgeon?" Mark asked looking at us.
Meredith was trying really hard not to laugh as she answered, "He wants to know if you're a surgeon."
"Oh, yeah, I'm a surgeon," Mark said, looking down at Dillon.
"Derek surgeons brains," Dillon informed him. "And my daddy surgeons hearts. So does my aunt Cris. And my uncle Alex surgeons babies. What do you surgeon?"
"I'm a plastic surgeon," Mark answered.
"You surgeon plastic?" Dillon's eyes went wide and then he turned to me. "Derek, your surgeons are much cooler."
"I know, bud. Brain surgery is just about the coolest," I said, crouching down to tuck back in his dress shirt that had come out in the back. "But Mark doesn't surgeon plastic. It's just what they're called. He makes people prettier."
"Oh," Dillon said slowly and then looked up at Mark. "Will you sign my blue cast, Mr. Mark?"
"Sure, kiddo. How did you break your arm?" Mark asked.
"Fell out of my tree," he answered. "Now my arm is blue. Derek says he had a blue arm once too."
"I remember when Derek's arm was blue. He was trying to impress some chick and fell of his bike. Good times," Mark laughed.
Meredith laughed and I glared at Mark, wanting to kill him on the spot. "Have you ever had a blue arm, Mr. Mark?"
"Nope. I had a blue leg once from a skiing accident though," Mark told him.
"Mark, leave that poor boy alone," my mother suddenly appeared behind my supposed best friend, her towel already in her hands. "Meredith, everyone is dying to meet you. I'm sorry if Markie has been bothering you. Despite my best efforts, he still lacks manners."
"I haven't been bothering her. She's thinking about leaving Derek for me, right Meredith?" he asked her.
"Of course, Markie," she rolled her eyes at him and then smiled at me, squeezing my hand.
"Ready, Mer?" I asked her, again.
"Yeah," she nodded. "I mean, how bad can your sisters be? Not worse than Markie...right?"
"No one is worse than Mark," I told her. She had survived Mark. She had survived Mark and my mom with flying colours. The rest would be fine. I knew she could do this. She was Meredith.
So this is the first part of the Shepherd family dinner...the second part will be up tomorrow. And yes...that was Meredith and Derek actually talking about their lives and communicating. We're just as shocked as you are. (and yes we're still bitter)