7:00
Derek glanced over at Meredith, who was doing anything to distract her self. She was fidgeting with her cell phone, looking out the window, every window. She put her feet on the dash and back down, repeatedly.
Derek reached over, grabbing a hold of her hand. "Hey, you're making me nervous."
Meredith frowned as she glanced behind her to see Kyla sleeping. "I'm meeting your family. I'm a bit nervous. They probably just know me as whatever the media portrayed me as."
He chuckled, "Meredith. I have talked to my family about you."
"You have?"
"Of course," He brought her hand up to his lips, kissing the top of her hand. "My mom's been dying to meet you. They're not as scary as you think they are." Derek took the next exit off of the highway. "You want a run down, again, don't you?"
"Please."
"Well, there's mom, of course. Then, my four sisters: Kathleen, Elizabeth, Nancy, and Amelia." He paused, "Kate and Lizzie. I always call Amelia, Amy, but if you call her that she might actually hate you."
"You're not funny."
"I'm hilarious," He chuckled, as he pulled into a driveway, revealing a large house, he frowned, slightly. "I'm surprised there's not more people here. Hey, baby girl. We're here."
The two stepped out of the car as Derek started pulling his daughter from the car seat. "Hey, sleepy head." Kyla yawned, shuffling to the ground. Once she blinked her eyes, she realized she was at her grandmother's house. She ran straight to the door and without knocking, barged into the house. "That's my kid."
Meredith took a breath as they walked into the house. It took about fifteen seconds before an older woman was almost screaming, bringing her son into a hug. "You know I hate surprises, Derek! What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to see my Mother," He laughed. "Mom, this is Meredith."
"Oh, I am so sorry," She immediately pulled Meredith in for a tight hug as well. "Meredith, it is so great to meet you!"
"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Shepherd."
"Oh, please, call me, Carolyn. Mrs. Shepherd makes me feel old," She smiled, picking up Kyla. "And how is my beautiful granddaughter?"
Kyla giggled, "I'm good!"
"Well, come in. Derek, why don't you set the table?" Carolyn walked towards the kitchen. "Amelia should be here any minute and Nancy will be by for dessert later."
"Hey, I'm a guest," He frowned, then cracked a smile.
"But, you'll always be the man of the house." Carolyn replied with a larger smile.
"You got it, Ma. Let me grab our bags and I'll do that."
Meredith spoke up, "I can grab them," She looked towards his wrist.
"Doctors orders, huh?" He chuckled. Reluctantly, he agreed, but only with his supervision. "I'm not completely incapable."
"Derek, I know," She dropped their belongings on the queen sized bed. "I just don't want you hurting yourself. It's a long season. If you strain a ligament or tendon, your little jealousy, as hot as it was, can actually put you out a week."
Derek paused, before grabbing her waist and tossing her on the bed. He was leaning over her, his lips millimeters from hers. "I love when you talk sports medicine to me."
Meredith wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled. She leaned up to capture his lips slowly, wishing this moment could last longer. "I'm glad I'm here."
He smiled brightly, "I'm extremely glad you are, too."
"Go help your Mom. I'm going to get out of sweatpants and look like a normal person meeting her… meeting your family."
"I can help you," He winked.
"Oh, my god, go."
Derek chuckled, walking back towards the kitchen. "Amy! There's my kid sister," He hugged her tightly. "You look great."
"I'm trying," She smiled. "I thought you were done fighting?"
"Fighting?" Carolyn looked up from the stove.
"Oops," Amelia smiled with a guilty look.
"It was nothing. I got into a minor altercation with a teammate and they decided it was best if I stay away this week." Derek shrugged. He glanced to make sure his daughter wasn't paying too much attention to the current conversation.
The look on his mother's face was as he expected. "Derek."
Derek was ecstatic when Meredith rounded the corner. "Perfect timing. Meredith, this is my sister, Amelia. Amy, this is Meredith."
"Ah, the super secret girlfriend?" She gave Meredith a quick hug. "It's nice to finally meet you."
"You too," She smiled.
8:00
"So, you're the teams Doctor?" Amelia leaned back in her chair. "That sounds like a pretty cool job."
"Yeah, it's always been a dream of mine," Meredith had time to talk to just Derek's mother and sister while he was putting Kyla to bed. She didn't know why she was so nervous, earlier. So far, everyone was great. "It also pretty awesome we get to travel, too."
"Well, if neurology doesn't work out, maybe I'll call you for an in," Amelia smiled.
"Amy is one year away from graduating medical school," Derek sat back down at the table.
"Congratulations. Medical school was probably the hardest time of my life," Meredith shuddered at the thought of those treacherous four years.
"College was great for me," Derek chuckled. "Class twice a week was probably my favorite part."
"That's because athletes pretty much had a free ride."
Derek rolled his eyes as his oldest sister walked into the dining room. She kissed both her mother and sister before saying hello to her brother. With a glance at Meredith, Nancy to her seat across from her mother. "Nancy, this is-"
"Yeah, hi. Sorry, I'm late, Mom. My patient's labor lasted much longer than expected. Where's my niece?"
"She just went to bed," He frowned, shooting the familiar look at his sister. His phone ringing made him jump. "I'll be right back."
Now, Meredith felt awkward. The three chatted about nothing in particular as she tired to decide if she should join the discussion, or not. "Meredith, do you want to come?"
"I'm sorry?" Her face flushed, as she was lost in her own thoughts.
"We always go to watch the game down the street. Do you think you and Derek would like to come?" Amelia looked up. "It's usually a group of us."
Derek sat back down, "We would, but I can't leave Ky."
"Oh, Derek, stop. Go out with your sisters and I'll make sure she's okay," Carolyn shook her head. She started clearing plates from the table.
"Alright," He chuckled, assisting his mother with the clean up. "We'll go for a little bit, but we've both been working all day."
Nancy rolled her eyes, "You've been throwing a football around all day. We see you, what? Once during football season?"
"Alright, fine. Let me change and we'll go."
11:00
Derek smiled as he looked back to see Meredith and Amelia getting along very well. He leaned against the bar, ordering his own drink and a round of shots. "So that's the slutty escort, huh?"
"She's a doctor. Not an escort, Nancy."
"I don't get it. You're always rushing into everything. Why can't you just focus on your daughter, rather than finding a girlfriend?"
"You're going to stop right there. Don't you, for a second, think I don't focus on my child, Nancy. You haven't even spoken to her. Can you please stop being so judgmental and try to get to know her?"
"You like her, then. I just think you're rushing into things, like you usually do. I'll be civilized, but that's the most you'll get out of me tonight."
"I wouldn't expect much more," Derek frowned as her grabbed a tray of drinks, walking back to the table. "Alright, what's going on?"
"The Giants are absolutely killing it, and won," Amelia smiled, grabbing a shot from her brother. "You should have gone there."
Derek frowned, "I really hope you'll root for me when we play them."
"She never does," Nancy shook her head. "So, Meredith," With a pause, she sighed, "Sports medicine."
Meredith was kind of shocked. Nancy hadn't even looked at her all evening yet. "Yes. My family comes from medicine, so that was always going to be my future. I was lucky enough to find a way to combine a love of sports with the medical field."
"Well, that's good, I suppose." Nancy looked at her brother to see a stupid smile on his face. "You couldn't stop this one from getting suspended?"
"He moved a tad too fast to me to jump in."
"Let's not talk about the seventy-five thousand dollar check I just had to write out," He frowned, tossing back the rest of his double scotch on the rocks. "Come grab a drink with me?" He murmured against her hair.
Meredith nodded, somewhat relieved to step away from the table. "She doesn't like me much, does she?"
He frowned. "She… is hesitant to like anyone I bring home. I hope you don't take it to heart." He wrapped his arm around her waist. "It doesn't matter what she thinks. I happen to think you're great."
She smiled, wrapping her fingers around the shot glass in her hand. "I think you're pretty great yourself."