She paid the cabbie and carried Dani and her luggage to the reception desk. "Checking in please, Dr. Meredith Grey." The receptionist smiled and looked up her info. "Ah, Dr. Grey, we've been expecting you. Your room is ready and we took the liberty of having a toddler bed brought in for your sweet little girl." Meredith smiled and thanked her and headed up to her room.
They got settled in and Meredith sat staring out the window at the Seattle skyline watching the rain. She was back. She thought about calling Izzie or Cristina, but thought against it. She would just surprise them tomorrow. Tonight, she needed rest, but her mind wasn't allowing it. She was nervous. She kept thinking about what Addison had said, " He never stopped loving you. When you left, it broke him." One question kept running through her mind: What could have been?
The rain was pouring down when her alarm sounded the next morning. She rolled over and turned it off with a sigh. Dani was still sleeping so she decided to take a quick shower. She quickly ran into the bathroom and started the water. Standing there, she thought about all the times she and Derek had shared a shower. The things he would do to her in the shower. She felt herself beginning to yearn for him again. This, she thought, is why I shouldnt have come back to Seattle. I haven't had these thoughts in forever, and now, just being in the same city as him, hes got control over my mind again.
She snapped out of her trance when she heard Dani calling for her. She hurriedly finished her shower and dressed and went into the other room to get Dani ready. "Good morning Dani Girl! Did you sleep well?" Dani nodded and giggled happily. "We are going to see some of mommys old friends today and you get to go play with Uncle Richard." Dani clapped happily while singing, "I see unkie richar i see unkie richar!"
Meredith gathered their things together after getting Dani dressed. She walked out of the hotel with Dani in tow and headed to the one place she never thought she would return to: Seattle Grace Hospital.
She slowly crept the rental car into the parking lot at SGH. Her stomach was in knots, her mind was racing, she was about to panic and drive away when Dani squealed, "UNKIE RICHAR!!!!!!" Meredith looked up and sure enough, there was Richard waiting for them out front. Meredith parked the car and retrieved Dani from her seat.
As soon as Dani's feet hit the ground she took off running for Richard. "Dani, be careful! You cant just run away from me!" Meredith yelled as Richard scooped her up and threw her into the air. Dani squealed with excitement and Meredith smiled. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad afterall. What Meredith didn't know was that from the walkway, they were being watched.
She still took his breath away. She looked beautiful. Her hair glistened in the morning sun. She looked just as beautiful as she did the last time he saw her. He had heard rumors of her coming back to Seattle, but didn't believe them until now. There she was. Standing just down from him in the parking lot. Suddenly, he felt nauseus and ran toward the nearest men's room.
Meredith and Richard, who was still holding Dani, entered SGH together. Richard looked at Meredith, "You can do this. This is your home, this is where you belong." She smiled hoping he was right, she was about to say something when suddenly her thought were interrupted.
"MEREDITH GREY! Get your butt over here and hug me!" It was George. Good ole George. She had missed him so much. He was like the brother she never had. Stood by her through thick and thin, and now, he was hugging her so tight she couldn't breathe.
"George, hi, GEORGE, I can't breathe! GEORGE!" She laughed once he let go. "I missed you too George," she laughed. George looked at Richard and noticed Dani, "Aw, and who'd this little angel?" He asked her. The little girl perked up, "DANI!" She squealed. "Well hello Dani, I'm Uncle George, wanna go get a snack with me?" Dani nodded her head happily as George looked at Mer, "Is that ok?" Meredith nodded in approval. "Come on Miss Dani, lets go get in to some trouble!" He took the 2 yrs olds hand and took off toward the cafeteria.
Richard and Meredith stood in the lobby talking when they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Meredith turned around into a sea of blue. Blue scrubs. Blue scrubcap. Blue eyes. There he was, standing less than 3 feet from her. "Chief, I need you to take a look at a few things for me," he paused, "when you get a chance."
"Of course Derek, I'll go do that now. Meredith? Will you be alright?" She nodded and motioned for him to go, her gaze never leaving Dereks.
"Meredith." He stated. He never gave her a chance to answer him. His eyes were full of pain and regret. He broke their gaze, turned on his heel and followed Richard. She stood there breathless, thinking, well, that was better than I expected. Suddenly, she had a set of hands over her eyes, and heard some giggling. "IZZIE!"
"Hey! How did you know it was me?" She laughed. "Izzie, you are the ONLY person I know who can be this happy so early in the morning." Izzie nodded agreeing with her. She then grabbed Meredith's hand and sat her down on the bench next to the window. "SO, tell me, how ARE you?" Izzie questioned her.
"I'm good Iz. Really good. I love Atlanta, I love OBGYN, and i love my life. Things are finally working out." She smiled as George and Dani returned. "Mommy Mommy!" Dani squealed. "Unkie Georgie got candy for Dani!" Izzie looked at Meredith, "She's yours?" Meredith nodded. Suddenly, Izzie got a look on her face and Meredith read it right away.
Before Iz could ask Meredith spoke up, "Yes, Izzie, Yes." Her face turned white as a sheet. George stood there confused as usual. "What what?" He asked them. Neither replied. Meredith gave George a look, then looked toward Dani and said, "Look at her George, remind you of anyone?"
He looked at Dani, studied her and suddenly it it him. "Oh, Meredith, Oh my god, seriously? SERIOUSLY? Shes HIS?!" About the time George got the last part out of his mouth, Derek had entered the lobby. He heard every word and knew just who they were talking about.
George's words echoed in his mind, "Shes HIS?" That hit him like a ton of bricks. He knew they were talking about him. He glanced toward them and noticed the little girl sitting next to Meredith. She looked uncannily like him. He felt his heart begin to break, then he felt anger and rage, then he began to feel sadness. His emotions were completely confused and he didn't know what to do.
Meredith looked up in time to see Derek standing across the room. All the color drained from her face. Damnit, she thought, way to go George. She sighed, grabbed Dani's hand and told Izzie and George, "I'll catch up with you guys later. There's something I have to do. Can you take Dani with you for a while?" They agreed, happy to keep the little one company, but they both ached for Meredith knowing what she was fixing to do was killing her inside.
They walked off leaving Meredith standing about ten feet from Derek, staring at him. He stared back. His face was unreadable. She didn't know how to proceed and then he spoke, "So, you came back." He was almost whispering. She nodded, "I came back."