SIDES
'That which does not kill us, only makes us stronger.'
-- Friedrich Nietzche
- Wednesday –
Meredith glanced at the clock in the scrub room and sighed as she set to scrubbing out. She had been pulled into an emergency surgery, which had lasted hours longer than expected. It would be after midnight now on the east coast, so she knew Derek would have made his phone call without her. It was disappointing, even though she had told him to do so. She had wanted to be there to announce their engagement to his family. They had been engaged for six days, and Derek had been excited all week about making this phone call with her.
It wasn't up to her to talk with the family of the patient, so Meredith headed directly for her locker room. A small note greeted her from the front of her cubby, from Derek, telling her he was in his office and ready to go when she was. She hoped he was up to driving them home. She was exhausted.
Meredith made quick work of getting changed and tossed her beeper and cell phone into her purse. She shut her cubby and turned for the door when her purse started buzzing. It took her a second to realize it was her cell phone, and she quickly pulled it out.
'Carol home,' was displayed across the small LCD screen.
She quickly flipped open the phone, a smile playing on her face, despite the late hour and her exhaustion. "Hello?"
"Hey!" Kathleen's excited voice filtered through the phone. "We finally caught you! We've been calling all night..."
"Yeah, you caught me. I just got out of surgery."
"Just to warn you, there's at least half a dozen messages on your phone."
Meredith laughed. "So, how's the party?" Carol was throwing her annual Christmas party and all of Derek's sisters were there.
"Who cares about the party," Kathleen scoffed. "We're calling about you! Congratulations!"
"Thanks," she said lightly.
"You're marrying my brother!"
"I am." Meredith couldn't help the bright smile that erupted across her face.
There was a rustling on the other end of the phone, and she heard a few snippets of Kathleen's conversation with whoever was near her on the other end of the line. "...finally got a hold of her...yes, she's on the phone...no...I got a hold of her, I get to talk to her...No!"
There was a louder rustling as the phone was forcibly taken away from Kathleen, causing Meredith to laugh; she had been subjected to the same thing at Thanksgiving. They had taken her cell phone from her while she had been talking to Derek and had held it hostage for hours. And when she had finally been given it back, she had discovered they had added all of their numbers.
"Meredith! Hi!" A new voice filtered onto the line.
"Hi, Nat," she responded.
"Derek called us."
"I know. I'm sorry I couldn't be there with him. I just got out of surgery, and we thought it would be too late for you guys..."
"Ah," Natalie scoffed. "It's barely after midnight, and it's a party..." She trailed off. "Congrats! I'm so excited for you."
"Thank-you."
"Are you excited?"
"Of course I am."
"Good. I'm passing you on, there's kind of a line up..."
Meredith didn't even have a chance to say goodbye when Anna took the phone.
"You and Derek are getting married!"
Meredith couldn't wipe the smile from her face; she was glad she was alone in the locker room. "We are!"
"I cannot believe it took you guys a week to call and let us know..."
"We wanted to wait until everyone was together."
"Excuses, excuses. I talked to you three days ago, and you didn't give me a hint or anything. Come on, Meredith, I'm the youngest, I never get to know anything first."
Meredith laughed. "Well...next time Derek asks me to marry him I'll be sure and tell you first."
"Good to know," Anna said, also laughing. "I'm so excited! We're going to be sisters!"
Tears welled in her eyes at the thought; at the realization that she wasn't only getting the man of her dreams for the rest of her life, but she was getting an amazing, loving, bright and shiny family to go along with him. She would have sisters.
"...wait your turn..." Anna was muttering from the other end. "Sorry, Mer, but I'm being threatened. I'll have to pass you along again, but I'll call you tomorrow..."
"Bye," Meredith offered, but was unsure if Anna even heard.
"Congrats!" Nancy's voice filtered through the phone line. Although they had gotten off to a bad start when Nancy had visited Seattle, they had developed an understanding at Thanksgiving and were both happy with Derek's recent life choices.
"Thanks."
"Derek was so happy when he called here."
Meredith smiled at the thought.
"Oh, crap," Nancy mumbled. "Mom just came in the room; that means my time is up. Here she is..."
"Meredith, dear, I am so happy with the news," Carol greeted warmly.
Meredith's eyes welled again. Along with the amazing man and the sisters she was getting a...mom. "Thanks."
"I'm just..." Carol continued, "So thrilled. I can't even imagine anyone better for my son. Now, did he do it right? He told me he did, but he is a man..."
Meredith laughed through her tears and nodded. "It was...amazing. He took me completely by surprise. He took me up to this high point on the land and said that was where he wanted to build a house...and when I turned around..." She swallowed as she remembered his perfect words.
'Meredith, when I come up here, and I look into my future, I can see myself here. I can see the house and the life. But most of all, I can see you. Every time. Every variation. It's always you. And coming up here with you, all I can see is our future. And all I want is to spend the rest of my life with you.' He paused, and there was a quiet creaking sound as the box was opened. Other than a vague sparkle from the sunlight, Meredith couldn't see anything through her tears. 'Meredith,' he said softly. 'Will you marry me?'
"Good," Carol said. "I'm glad it was so memorable. You deserve it. And I guess an official welcome to the family is in order..."
000
It was a warm afternoon. The sun was shining brightly with only a light breeze to counteract it. The older kids were playing a marathon game of hide and seek across the large acreage of Carol's land. The younger kids were mulling around closer to the house, playing their own game.
Meredith found herself outside with the majority of Derek's family, enjoying the weather. She had spent a couple hours in town with Kathleen, Anna, Stephanie, Megan and Spencer junior picking out the flower girl and ring bearer outfits. Other than that there was nothing left for her to do at the time to prepare for the weekend. Derek and Mark were out picking up their tuxes, her friends, assuming the plane was on time, were in the air right now, and the rest of the guest list had been called, including two people they had added the day before. Everything had been taken care of. Everything was going well. And yet, in the back of her mind, she was certain they had forgotten something.
Nancy and Natalie were tilted back in reclining deck chairs, taking advantage of the sunlight. Anna and Carol were sitting with Meredith, enjoying drinks around the smaller patio table, shielded from the sun by the middle umbrella. Spencer and Dean were out hiding with the older kids, enjoying themselves immensely, and hadn't been seen for over an hour. Phil was keeping a closer eye on the younger children. And Meredith wasn't sure where Simon and Kathleen had disappeared to.
"I'm so excited for this weekend," Anna was saying.
Meredith felt the corners of her mouth turn upwards. "Me too."
Carol smiled warmly at her. "A wedding here..." She trailed off with a happy sigh and gently shook her head. "Sam would have loved it." Carol and Sam had married young and immediately set to building a home on the land he had inherited right out of high school. They had designed and built the house Carol had now lived in for over forty years; the house they had raised their children in. The family had been devastated by Sam's sudden death, but his memory was kept alive in stories and photographs. The house and the land had never become any less than theirs. "He would have been so proud of Derek." She turned a thoughtful gaze to Meredith. "And he would have loved you, dear."
Meredith was surprised to feel tears pricking the backs of her eyes. "Really?"
Carol nodded reassuringly and reached across the table to squeeze her hand. "Really. When I look at my son, and I see the way he acts around you, how much he loves you..." She gave a watery smile as her eyes welled. "I can see so much of his father in him. Sam was my soul mate; there isn't a doubt in my mind. And I miss him every day. And Derek looks so much like him, and yet I'd never seen how much they were the same until now. The person Derek is with you is the spitting image of his father."
Meredith swallowed hard. "He's a good man."
"I'm so glad. I'm so glad he's happy again, like he deserves. And I'm certain that somewhere, somehow, Sam is proud of him too."
"Oh, mom," Anna said quietly, reaching for her mother's hand. "I'm sure he is too."
Meredith wasn't sure what to say to comfort the older woman, so she settled for simply squeezing the hand that was still latched onto hers and offered a supportive smile as she continued to fight off her own tears.
"A wedding," Carol repeated. "Here on our land..." She shook her head before turning to Meredith. "I can't think of anything better to be doing this weekend."
Meredith smiled. "Me neither."
Carol smiled warmly at her. "And how is your house coming? Have they started yet?" Meredith and Derek had spent their winter months meeting with an architect and a construction company, designing their dream home.
"I think it's going well," Meredith told her. "They broke ground in april, and spent a long time putting in the basement and doing...other things..." She trailed off with a laugh. She had very little understanding of the complexity of building a functional house to start with, and her almost complete self-removal from anything outside her immediate environment for almost a month hadn't helped her to wonder on the days she and Derek went to check on the progress. In fact, early after the horrific experience with Thatcher, she had made him go by himself most days. "They're supposed to have the frame up and ready for our inspection when we get back next week."
"That's wonderful to hear."
"When will the whole thing be complete?" Anna asked.
"In the fall; November probably by the time everything is dry-walled and painted and...whatever else."
"When does the lease on your apartment come up?"
"The end of July," Meredith answered. "We've talked to the landlord and he's going to see about extending our contract for a few months. If not...I guess we'll have to put most of our stuff in storage and live in the trailer for the fall."
Carol made a face. "I'm sure you can find something else if that's the case. Don't let my son convince you to live in that tin box for four months."
Meredith laughed. "It's really not a big deal. I like the trailer." She and Derek had spent quite a few weekends out there recently. It had given her a chance to be away from the city and people to heal.
"For a weekend maybe," Carol continued. "But to live in for four months?"
"We'll make do." Meredith shrugged.
Carol smiled at her for several seconds. "Young love I suppose..."
She felt her cheeks redden. "I guess," she stated noncommittally.
"Are you two going to be able to go away after the wedding?" Anna questioned.
"Not right away." She shook her head. The concept of a honeymoon had come up briefly between her and Derek, but time off was too much of an issue. After them both taking almost two weeks off now, and Derek calling in his favour to have six other surgeons have time off for the coming weekend, they would be forced to wait a while, especially to have enough time off for a real honeymoon "We were thinking we may be able to get the time off in the late fall or after Christmas."
"That's too bad."
Meredith shrugged. "But after this week, it'll be fine. I'm sure we'll be able to get away for a weekend or something in the summer."
"Well, that's something at least." Carol answered. "And how has work been going for you? You must be nearing then end of your second year?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I'll just have two weeks left once we get back."
"And it's just a new bunch of interns, huh?" Anna added with a laugh.
Meredith laughed in response. "Yeah, I'll have to break in a new group."
"How had you liked having interns this year?"
She shrugged. "It wasn't so bad. I guess I only really have three, the fourth is my friend George. He failed his exam last year, so is repeating the year."
"That sucks."
"Yeah," Meredith agreed. "It does. But his dad died a year ago and his marriage was on the rocks and I guess he was just overwhelmed or whatever. He really is a good doctor."
"Is he one of the ones who are coming out today?"
She nodded.
"So," Anna prompted. "Have you made any head way on choosing a specialty?"
Meredith cracked a smile. "I think so, just don't tell Derek..."
"Damn," Anna muttered. "That means neuro."
She nodded. "Yeah...I'm really leaning that way, as much as I tried to fight it."
"And why don't you want Derek to know?" Carol questioned.
Meredith smirked. "I don't want to deal with his gloating just yet..."
Carol laughed. "And knowing my son, that's all you would hear."
She nodded emphatically. "Exactly. When I'm completely sure, I'll let him know."
Carol paused for a moment, her motherly eyes surveying Meredith with apprehension. "Have you two really been okay lately," she finally questioned. "I don't want to pry, but everything seemed fine, and then you two stopped calling and delayed the wedding and I...I was concerned."
Anna remained silent, but turned a worried glance to Meredith as well.
Meredith almost smiled at the sight of the mother and daughter. Of all of the sisters, Anna looked the most like her mother. And their concerned expressions were almost identical. She sighed. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "We never meant to concern you. It's just..." She trailed off as she searched for the words she needed to be able to explain herself. "It never had anything do to with us," she assured. "Trust me, I...I love your son more than anything. And I know he loves me too. And it was never that we didn't want to get married. It's just...something came up and I...we," she stuttered. "Something happened. And everything else around us kind of went to hell. And at the time, we weren't sure if we could pull off the wedding and everything..."
Carol appeared curious to know what had happened, but held her tongue. "As long as you two are okay."
Meredith smiled. "We're okay, great even. It was never about us," she repeated. "It's just...you can't always control what happens in your life..."
"Well, the movie kind of sucked," Meredith commented as she collapsed onto the passenger seat of Lexie's car. Derek and Mark were at a baseball game, so she had taken her half-sister up on the offer to go see a movie. She had known the woman for the better half of a year, and was slowly beginning to open up to her.
"The reviews were all really good."
"And really wrong."
Lexie laughed. "Yeah, I have to agree." She shook her head. "You want to come back to my place for a drink?"
Meredith glanced at the clock on the dash of the car and sighed. "I'd love to, but it's getting late."
"It's barely getting dark."
"But I have to be at work at six tomorrow."
"Come on," Lexie pushed. "Just one drink, tequila or coffee, your choice."
Meredith silently contemplated. It was nice spending time with the younger woman, and she had moved out of Thatcher's house and into an apartment with George a few months ago, so that wasn't a problem.
"I also may have some chocolate cake..."
Meredith rolled her eyes. "Fine; you know my weakness."
Her half-sister smiled triumphantly and quickly steered them to her apartment.
Lexie was cutting two pieces of cake as the two of them continued to make fun of the movie when there was a loud knock at the door. Meredith jumped at the sudden intrusion, and looked up at Leixe, who shrugged.
"I don't know who that could be."
"I'll go see. You get that cake ready," Meredith said with a laugh, before heading for the door. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight that awaited her.
Thatcher Grey stood awkwardly in the doorway upon her swinging open the door, his hair more unkempt than normal and several days of growth on his face. His clothing was mismatched and dirty. And he stunk of alcohol.
"H-hi," she stuttered, stepping back to allow him to enter. She hadn't seen him since he had chased her and Derek from Susan's funeral.
His eyes flashed angrily as he recognized her. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm just visiting with Lexie."
"I told you to stay away from my family," he stated, his voice loud and harsh.
She swallowed. "I'm sorry, but I want to get to know her. She is my half-sister," she said determinately, squaring her shoulders.
He stepped towards her, his face reddening at her words. "I want her to have nothing to do with you. All you do is infect the people around you. That's all either of you have ever done."
"No." She found herself practically yelling, determined this time to stand up for herself this time. When he had chased them across the parking lot after the funeral, she had frozen, unable to defende herself, leaving the job to Derek. "I'm not her. I know that my mother did some horrible things to you, but-"
"She was a whore. She slept with than man for years. A man you work for."
"So does Lexie."
"It's not the same."
"It is the same."
"It's not the same," he repeated. "And you're worse than her. You killed my wife."
Meredith felt tears spring to her eyes. "No I didn't," she said softly. "It was a horrible thing that happened to Susan-"
"You don't get to say her name!" He bellowed.
"Dad!" Lexie called, hurrying into the front hall. "What are you doing?" She demanded.
Thatcher ignored his younger daughter. "You took her from me. You and your mother, all you ever did was take and destroy everything and everyone around you. You don't get to come here and take my daughter away from me too."
"She's your daughter too," Lexie said quietly, placing her hand on her father's forearm, trying to reason with him.
"She doesn't deserve to be anyone's daughter," he sneered, meeting Meredith's eyes evenly. "I can't believe I convinced your mother to have you in the first place. What a mistake."
Meredith blinked rapidly as the tears welled in her eyes. "I'm so sorry..." Her resolve to stand up for herself was failing fast. She felt like she had been slapped in the face again at his words.
"You were the worst decision I ever made."
Another verbal slap to the face. The urge to run and cry was welling inside her, but a small flicker of anger ignited. "Yeah, well, what about leaving?" She countered. "Where does ditching your five year old daughter fit on your list of bad decisions, huh?" She hissed.
"That was your mother's fault."
Meredith scoffed. "I love how everything is someone else's fault in your book."
"How dare you, you little-"
"Dad!" Lexie cut in again, trying to pull him towards the couch. "Stop this. You're drunk, please come and sit down." She shot Meredith an apologetic glance.
"I don't need to sit down."
"Please, dad, please come and sit down. I'll get you some coffee."
He still refused to turn, but his frame relaxed, even though he continued to glare at Meredith.
His expression was so cold that Meredith couldn't help the tears that finally overcame her lower lids and began to stream down her cheeks. She wiped furiously at them, not wanting to appear weak. The man had too much power over her already.
Thatcher started, his eyes flashing, and before Meredith had a chance to react, he had stormed forward and was clutching to her left wrist, holding her hand high, up near his face.
"What are you doing? Let me go," she demanded, trying to pull her hand free, but it was no use against his strong grip.
"What the hell is that?!" He yelled; his eyes fixed on the ring sitting on her fourth finger.
Meredith stopped struggling at his words, realizing what he was doing. "I...uh...Derek asked me to marry him." Thatcher loosened his grip, but did not release her. His expression dulled a bit, and his eyes took on a characteristic that she couldn't read. And for one, tiny, moment, Meredith hoped he was happy for her. She hoped he would be glad. He was her father, and she was getting married.
Her hopes were dashed, however, at his next words.
He met her eyes, his showing exactly the intensity of his hate and disdain for her. "You're going to ruin that poor man's life, just like you and your mother ruined mine."
"No, that's not-"
"That's all you do! That's all either of you have ever done!"
"No!" She shouted, trying to wrench her hand out of his grip, but he still refused to let go. She pulled at his fingers with her right hand. "Let me go!"
"Dad, let her go." Lexie joined in.
Thatcher shouted something unintelligible at Lexie's support to Meredith and grabbed a hold of her right arm, his grip tight and unforgiving. "You don't deserve to be happy. You don't deserve to get married," he hissed at her. "You hear me? You've taken everything from me."
Meredith felt fear for the first time as she met his livid eyes. "Please. Please let me go. And I'll leave."
He sneered, leaning in close, the alcohol in his breath stinging her eyes. "You were a mistake; a horrible mistake. And all you've ever done was hurt the people around you. You don't deserve a family, so stay the hell away from my daughters."
Meredith swallowed hard and nodded. "Fine," she all but whispered. "Now let me go."
He released her left wrist and she struggled against him as he still held her right forearm tightly in his grasp. He shook his head at her. "You're disgusting. You should be in jail after what you did."
"It wasn't my fault. I wasn't even in the OR with her, remember? I was in the waiting room with you..."
"You killed her. You infected her...just like your mother."
Meredith's breathing hitched violently as she still strained against his grip. "I'm sorry you feel that way, I am. But I would never have done anything to hurt her. Susan was a wonderful person-" She cut herself off with a cry as he violently twisted her arm in his grip.
"You don't get to say her name!" He repeated.
"Dad! Let her go!" Lexie's yelling was lost in the background and Thatcher pushed her away when she tried to free Meredith's arm.
"You stay away from her, Lexie. She's bad news." His tone was even and authoritative, as if he were a father telling his pre-teen daughter to stay away from a bad, older influence.
Meredith was crying freely, pain shooting through her entire left arm as he kept her twisted over like that. She could only hope he would let her go now, as she was in no position to bargain. This was not father she had hoped for when she had been growing up. This was not the clumsy, stammering man that had accompanied Susan to dinner with her and Derek almost a year before. This was a man who believed she had killed his wife. This was a man who was angry and drunk and seeking vengeance.
"Dad, let her go!" Lexie yelled.
"Why are you helping her?" He demanded.
"Because you're hurting her!"
"She doesn't deserve your sympathy!" He screamed, and the sound of Meredith's radius cracking was heard through the room as he violently twisted her arm further.
Meredith screamed in pain. And suddenly her world was spinning as he violently shoved her away and she slammed into the wall behind her before crumpling onto the floor. The breath was knocked out of her and she curled up on the floor, her broken arm clutched against her chest as she struggled to breathe. Her eyes shut tightly involuntarily and she could no longer make out the words he was yelling as he stepped towards her.
The toe of his boot met her ribcage twice before she managed to move out of his way, her side burning in pain. Her adrenaline was kicking in and she knew she needed to get out of the apartment, but he was between her and the door. She staggered to her feet, barely taking in Lexie's stunned form, frozen with shock; this was the not the father she knew either.
She stepped away from him, her injured arm and ribs cradled with her remaining intact limb as she hunched. "Please just let me go," she whispered. And when Thatcher failed to respond she stood as straight as she could and made to move past him.
She was almost to the door when he lashed out again, his fist finding her lower jaw, throwing her off her feet as she hit the table behind her on her way down. More pain shot through her body, but her brain was on overload trying to pinpoint all the injuries. She cried as she struggled to get her breath for the second time. And when she tried to haul herself to her feet, he pushed her down again, and she lay still, clutching her rib cage, crying, broken, on the floor. "Please..."
"How do you think Susan felt when she died!" He screamed. "How much pain was she in because of you? You don't deserve to be happy. You don't deserve to get married, not when I'm alone. Not when you killed my wife!"
Lexie's voice was lost in the background again, having no effect on her father as he glared down at Meredith's crumpled form.
"You don't deserve to be loved. You don't deserve a family. You don't deserve him." He crouched beside her as she struggled to breath, the pain around her lungs and diaphragm almost overwhelming her.
"Please..." She whispered.
"You don't deserve to wear this." His fingers found the ring on her left hand, and she reacted on instinct. A surge of adrenaline had her pushing him away, catching him off balance as he struggled to stay upright in his crouched position.
It was all Meredith needed. She staggered to her feet and ran for the door. She could hear Lexie yelling at her, and even following her for a little while, but Meredith couldn't stop if she wanted to. She raced out of the apartment building and across the road. She lost track of the turns she made and the roads she ran along in the dark. When she finally stopped, she almost collapsed under the burning in her lungs and pain overload in her brain. There was a bench across the street and all she wanted to do was lie down and cry. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and give up. She didn't know how badly she was hurt. She didn't know where she was. It was late and it was dark. And no one knew where she was.
Sobs threatened to take over as she stumbled towards a phone booth. She needed to call Derek. If Derek was there, everything would be okay. She needed him.
"Well, I'm glad you have sorted everything out now," Carol offered, pulling Meredith back into the present.
"Me too." She offered Carol a smile. She may not have ever had the father she had hoped for, but she was getting the mother she had always wanted. And she had Derek. And she was quickly learning the truth in the words he had spoken to her almost a year before; that dreams change. She no longer longed for a relationship with her father, or a better relationship with her mother. She longed to be his wife, to find a permanent place in his family. "And I'm sorry that we concerned you."
"Nonsense, dear," Carol told her, waving a hand. "It's my job as a mother to worry about my children."
Before they could say any more, a small herd of young children came screeching around the corner of the house, Phil close on their heels with a bucket of water. He and the kids were wet to varying degrees. Five year old Kim was in the lead and quickly ran to her mother, seeking safety in her lap as Anna laughed. Nancy's youngest daughter, Haley tried hiding beside her mother, and ended up making a jump for her aunt in the next deck chair when Phil began to pour water onto Nancy. And when Haley tried to use Natalie as a human shield, Phil didn't hesitate to dump the entire bucket on his wife and niece.
Haley laughed aloud and made a run for it, while Natalie took off after her husband, Nancy close on her heels, both yelling for revenge. And Kim pulled herself out of Anna's lap and ran the other way around the house, giggling wildly at her successful strategy.
Meredith blinked as it was suddenly quiet again. Anna was laughing as her daughter disappeared around the corner, and Carol was shaking her head, a gentle smile playing across her lips as she turned to Meredith.
"Like I told you at Thanksgiving, Meredith, I get these people together, and they start regressing decades."
Meredith laughed. "So I've noticed." There was a series of screeching noises as Phil and Simon came running around the corner, Nancy, Natalie and Kathleen on their heels. Apparently the tables had been turned on Phil, and Meredith knew enough about the Shepherd women to know that Simon may very well have been in the wrong place at the wrong time and had been lumped in with Phil. And it also seemed that all of the kids were open to attacking.
Kim returned to Anna's lap, and Megan followed her to the table, also seeking protection.
"Aunt Meri-deth!" She cried, pulling herself onto Meredith's lap without a moment of hesitation. "Save me!"
Meredith laughed as she steadied the young girl as she hid her face against Meredith's shoulder.
"Release the girl, or you both get wet," Kathleen threatened, standing over Meredith, a bucket of sloshing water hanging suspiciously in front of her.
"No!" Megan cried dramatically, clutching onto Meredith shirt with tight fists as she giggled loudly.
"Okay, don't say I didn't warn you..."
"Hey, that's not-" Meredith was cut off with a whoosh as several litres of water came crashing down on her and the young girl in her lap. "Fair," she finished as she wiped the hair that was plastered against her face out of her eyes. Megan laughed and took off again, without so much as muttering an apology.
Anna laughed at her, until her sister snuck up behind her and she was subjected to the same treatment. The only person who seemed to be immune was Carol. "That's it," Anna muttered. "Come on Mer, this is war."
Meredith laughed and followed her around the house, feeling like one of the children as she too laughed wildly about the situation. Anna managed to extract two buckets for them and they took control of the hose, quickly filling both vessels. However, when Meredith was finished filling hers, Kathleen was on her way over for her own refill. Without a moment of hesitation, Meredith turned the hose on her. It was much more effective than lugging heavy buckets around.
Kathleen screeched and jumped out of range, to the cheering of the men. It seemed the older kids, along with Spencer and Dean, had made their way up to join in the water fight. Anna cheered her on as she soaked everyone in range, including Simon, Nancy and Phil, who had started the whole thing and who had managed to stay driest the longest.
She and Anna abandoned the hose and ran for the driveway, seeking protection and hiding among the multitude of vehicles, not having noticed the one that had just pulled up.
000
Derek wasn't surprised to see an ongoing water fight in the works as he put the Explorer in park and stepped out, his best man doing so beside him. He was, however, surprised to spot his fiancée and his sister racing down the drive towards him and Mark, buckets of over flowing water in their hands, and an angry, wet, mob on their heels. "This can't be good," he mumbled as he briefly debated locking himself in the safety of the car. His hand found the handle.
"Open the car!" Anna called, abandoning her bucket as she made a leap for the back seat. Meredith followed suit, and Derek jumped into the driver seat again, hitting the lock button. It was then that he realized Mark had strayed too far from the passenger door and was locked out. But it was too late to let him in; they were surrounded. And they watched as Mark tried to talk himself out of an inevitable soaking as he took the brunt of several people's full buckets and glared at Derek before turning for the house and his own ammunition.
"So, you ladies having a nice afternoon?" He asked nonchalantly as he glanced in the rear-view mirror, ignoring the angry mob of bucket wielding people surrounding the car, knocking on every window and trying every handle. "I hope you're not staining the seats. I do have a deposit I'd like to get back..."
Anna laughed. "No worries, big brother, we're not that wet. We're definitely wining."
"Hmm," he mumbled, watching as the crowd began to disperse slowly. Though he knew they would stand guard for as long as it took. "And can I thank you for dragging me into this?"
"You're welcome," they said in unison.
He rolled his eyes.
"Did you get the tuxes okay?" Meredith questioned.
He nodded. "Yup. They're in the back, and hopefully we'll be able to get out of this without them both getting soaked." The family had gone back to their own games, but Derek spotted Tina on the front porch, keeping watch over the car. She was definitely there to watch their every move. And her yell would bring a mob of people to cut them off before they made it to the door.
"We just need to get inside," Anna mumbled, her eyes glancing across the landscape as she took in every hiding spot she knew of. "They can't touch us if we're inside..."
"We could make a run for it," Meredith suggested.
"We'd never make it," Derek assured. "They'll have sentries placed everywhere. We wouldn't even make it half way."
"So, I guess we're hanging out here," Anna said lightly. "They'll lose interest eventually."
Derek met his sister's eyes through the mirror. "When do you ever know them to lose their interest in revenge?"
"Good point." She shrugged. "Though it's only two hours till dinner."
Derek sighed, knowing he would very well be spending the next couple hours in the car, and even then they would most likely still be ready and waiting for them.
"We could pretend we were going into town," Meredith suggested. "And park the car out of sight and sneak back to the house from a different direction. Then they wouldn't see us coming."
"Mer, you're brilliant," Anna exclaimed. "Derek, you chose well."
He laughed and turned the key in the ignition with a competitive smirk, hoping this would work, and determined to try. There was nothing he enjoyed more than messing with his family's heads'. They drove the car down the driveway and parked it out of sight on the side of the quiet road. It would be a hike back to the house, as they were going the long way, through the forest.
There were a number of small paths through the trees, most of which Derek knew, even if they were overgrown. He and Mark had spent years of their youth exploring. "So," he prompted as he began to lead the way. "Did you talk to Cristina this morning?" She and his sisters had headed out in the morning to take care of flower girl outfits for Megan and Stephanie, and a ring bearer outfit for Spencer. He and Mark had left before she had returned.
She reached for his hand as she trudged along beside him. "Yeah. She called from the airport; said she picked up the dresses and rings fine, and they were just about to check in." She laughed. "Oh, and she said that we owe her for making her deal with Izzy. Apparently Izzy is 'off the wall' with excitement."
Derek laughed. "I wouldn't want to be on a plane with her for five hours."
Meredith shook her head. "She was bad enough on the way to that conference. And that was only a conference."
"Izzy; I knew I knew that name," Anna spoke up. "She was the co-worked I met at the conference."
Derek smiled. Meredith had been sent to a surgical conference with Izzy a little over a month after her incident with Thatcher. With a cast on her arm for six weeks, she had been unable to be performing any surgery in the OR, and so had been sent to the conference. Izzy had excitedly volunteered. He had been concerned she would be uncomfortable with all of the people; conferences were not quiet places. But he had been relieved when she had called home the second night to announce she had bumped into his sister.
"Okay, so Izzy I know. And George, who is your intern..."
Meredith nodded. "And Cristina, my best friend. You...kind of met her... She was the one who came running when Derek and I were showing you guys our apartment in Seattle..."
"The angry one?"
Derek laughed as Meredith explained the situation. Cristina had spent days trying to discover the identity of the intern who beat her on the exam after she had discovered she had been ranked second. Meredith hadn't known how to tell her it had been her. And when Cristina had found out Meredith had been lying to her, she had been very angry, and had shown up yelling at their apartment.
"And the fourth is?"
"Alex," Meredith supplied. "He was my roommate for a few months. Izzy and George lived with me for most of the year, and then George moved out, and Alex took his room."
"Okay, I think I've got it."
They were nearing the edge of the clearing when a few kids and one of the adults ran past. They paused, waiting for an opening. Anna headed down the tree line a bit, looking for the best path way to the house. Derek wrapped his arms tightly around Meredith's middle and pulled her back flush against his chest, dipping his face to kiss the side of her head and steal a whiff of her hair. He hadn't seen her since early that morning.
"Have you thought about...?" Meredith asked quietly, knowing he would know what she meant. Richard. She was asking about Richard.
He captured her fingers in his. "I'm still not sure."
He glared angrily at the security guards keeping him and Mark hostage in the closed exam room. As Chief of Surgery, Richard had the authority to have them both kept like this until he had a chance to contact the police. Derek could only hope it wouldn't get to that. He needed to get back to Meredith. He needed to be near her. But several attempts at exiting the room had taught him he would have to wait.
"This is fucking bullshit," he muttered for the umpteenth time as he paced back and forth, his path as long and straight as he could manage in the small room, while avoiding Mark and the two security guards by the door.
"It is," Mark agreed, sitting back on a chair, arms crossed, scowling at the guards. "You guys see us every day. Do you really believe any of this shit?"
"I'm sorry, Dr. Sloan, but we're just following orders."
"That's bullshit," Derek responded. "I'd never hurt her; not ever."
Before the guards could respond again, there was a knock at the door, and Richard appeared in the doorway as it was swung open. He motioned for the guards to leave, and shut the door behind him. Mark sat up straighter, but continued to scowl, his arms still crossed angrily. Derek stopped his pacing, still glaring, his eyes now focussed solely on the man in the doorway.
"Derek," Richard said quietly. "I'm sorry you were accused, but we had to make sure."
Derek scoffed. "There's no we, Richard, we all know that. This is all about you. You and your fucking promise to Ellis Grey."
"It's hospital policy to-"
"The policy can only be implemented with reasonable assumption. You don't have any reason to believe I would ever hurt her."
"At the time-"
"At the time, you had her denying it. Me denying it. Mark claiming we were at a game and picked her up after she called me. You also had Bailey trying to keep you away..."
Richard sighed heavily. "Look, we don't need to get into this. I was wrong. I had an intern come to me with the allegations and I had you bringing a very injured resident into the clinic, and not the ER. And I had Bailey and Sloan being secretive. What was I supposed to think?"
"You were supposed to know I would never hurt her. You were supposed to know I was doing everything in her best interest."
Richard sighed heavily. "I am sorry, Derek, deeply sorry. I was wrong to point my finger at you. And some information has come forward, and I know now that it wasn't you."
Derek rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you would ever think..."
"I'm sorry, Derek. I am."
Derek stepped up to his former mentor, his eyes flashing with anger. He was breathing hard, only a few inches from Richard. He clenched his fists, wanting nothing more than to hit the older man. After the night he had, he felt it would be justified. The woman he loved had been beaten. He had been accused by his boss, and forcibly dragged away from her as she lay in a hospital bed crying. He had promised her he wouldn't leave her side, and now she had been alone for well over an hour. "I assume this means we can go."
"Of course, but Derek-" He still wasn't moving to get out of the way of the door.
"I don't want to hear it. All I need is to know where she is, and for you to get the hell out of my way."
Richard told him her new room number, but didn't move. "Derek, I'd really like to talk with you first."
Derek felt his fists tightening on their own accord.
"I am truly sorry, Derek," Richard was saying. "I overreacted. But you need to understand; I still see her as a little girl. She's the closest thing I've ever had to a daughter. I feel the need to protect her, to keep her safe."
"Yeah, well, so do I. And you're getting in the way of that." He stepped even closer, his breathing ragged. He really wanted to hit the man standing in front of him.
"It's not worth it, man," Mark appeared at his shoulder, his hand clutching to Derek's elbow, forcing his attention away. "Let's just go. Meredith needs you."
"I'd really like to sit down and discuss this with both of you before you go anywhere," Richard explained, his voice taking on an air of authority.
Derek scoffed. "Go to hell." He stepped around the chief, forcing his way to the door.
"Derek!" He called. "Dr. Sloan..."
Mark paused at the doorway. "I'm with Derek. You can go to hell."
"That's okay," Meredith responded, pulling him from his thoughts.
He squeezed her hands. "I asked Mark for his opinion. He still hates Richard almost as much as I do. But...he told me that if I could forgive him for what he did with Addy, that I could probably also forgive Richard." He sighed and leaned his face into the side of her head as he held her, breathing in her hair, the lavender heightened by the dampness she had been inflicted with during her water fighting escapades. The trees moved around them as a small gust of wind tore across the field and died against the woods. He shut his eyes and for a moment he felt peace.
Meredith nodded, squeezing his hands. "You're a good person, Derek. I guess the only question now is whether you want to forgive Richard."
"Exactly," he agreed easily. "But that's what I don't know."
She leaned back into him and sighed. "I can't answer that for you."
"Why not?" He complained, only half joking. He craved her opinion.
"Because it's your decision; and it's something you have to be happy with and live with and all that crap...and you wouldn't help me."
"When didn't I help you?" He opened his eyes and pulled his head away from hers.
"When I was trying to decide on a name."
He sighed, now realizing why her speech sounded familiar. He had spoken very similar words to her just the day before. "That was different..."
"Not going to work, Derek," she countered with a laugh as she leaned back against him.
He huffed and fell silent, apparently much to her amusement as she continued to laugh. "I just can't decide right now."
"Then wait until tonight, or tomorrow morning at the latest."
"Okay," Anna said as she returned to them. "The back door is out; swarmed with people. And the front door would maybe work, but we'd be seen for sure, so we'd have to run. I think out best bet is the garage door." There was a person door beside the car door in the large garage attached to the close side of the house.
"Okay," Derek agreed, releasing Meredith from his grasp, as he felt his heart beat accelerate with excitement. "Let's do this. How many people were around?"
"Not a lot. If we're quiet I think we can pull this off."
"You ready?" He asked Meredith, who was giggling beside him. She had obviously never done anything like this before. When he was growing up, it was a regular occurrence.
"I guess," she answered with a shrug. "What's the worst that could happen? I get more wet?" She motioned towards her damp shirt and hair.
Anna scoffed. "That's not the point. It's not about staying dry. It's about winning."
"Cristina is going to love you," Meredith mumbled, and Derek laughed as he followed her along to the edge of the trees. The three paused in the protective camouflage of the woods, surveying the ground they would have to cover. It was the quiet end of the house, so this was their best chance.
"Ready?" Anna asked.
"Ready," he answered smoothly, his hand resting against Meredith tensed back muscles. She was ready too.
"Then let's go..." And the three of them took off at a gentle run, quickly travelling across the few hundred feet of grass before they reached the garage. They paused; no one followed them. No one shouted. No one jumped out of hiding with buckets of water. "Okay..." Anna mumbled as she inched across the wall and cautiously ducked her head around the corner, checking out the front of the house. She turned back to them. "No one's paying attention. This is our chance."
She crept around the corner, and Derek urged Meredith along as the three of them made their way through the garage door unseen. And when it came time for everyone else to make their way in before dinner, Derek, Meredith and Anna were sitting on the couch in the living room, content and dry, much to everyone's surprise.
000
Meredith finished her second hamburger and tossed her napkin into the garbage bag tied to the picnic table and wandered closer to the water. This was the second time she had experienced the wonder that was the Shepherd Barbeque. The first time was over Thanksgiving, although it was restrained to the back deck and kitchen due to the cold weather. Now, in the warmth of the summer, the barbeque had been carted down the hill to the small pond near the back left corner of the property, off to the side and down a bit from the field they would be married in a few short days. It was beautiful, and Meredith could understand why they used this spot in the summer. A number of older, well used picnic tables sat scattered around the small field.
Derek came up behind her, his arms once more reaching around her as his chin came to rest on her shoulder. "You having a good time?"
She sighed and leaned back against his strong chest. "Yeah."
His lips pressed against her cheek as he tilted his head. "Good."
"I love it here," she murmured, knowing he would know she meant more than just this particular spot on the land. She meant here, in New York. With his family. In his arms.
"Mmm..." He kissed her cheek again as his arms tightened around her. "I'm glad."
"I can remember how scared I was to come here the first time..." She trailed off remembering her near panic attack in the airport. Derek had spent twenty minutes calming her down enough to get her through security. She had been terrified by the prospect of spending five days in the Shepherd household, on their turf, having not met most of them, and having no idea how to celebrate the holiday.
He laughed at the memory. "You had a right to be nervous."
"I wasn't nervous. I was freaking terrified."
"Well," he continued. "What matters is that you're not anymore."
"No, I'm not," she mumbled as an agreement. She felt at home with these people. She felt accepted; like she was becoming a part of their family.
"Derek!" Phil called, walking towards them.
He loosened his grip as they both turned to face Derek's brother-in-law. Phil smirked, and Mark appeared out of nowhere. And suddenly they had both grabbed a strong hold of him and were dragging him towards the dock, barely slowed down by his struggles.
"Crap," Meredith muttered, knowing what was about to happen to her when Nancy and Kathleen came at her from both sides. She tried to run, but was quickly restrained.
"This is for the hose," Kathleen told her and she and Nancy lifted Meredith between them, ignoring her struggles. She didn't have enough weight to put up an effective struggle against the two of them.
"That's not fair," Meredith tried. "You got me first."
"Doesn't matter."
They were nearing the edge of the dock; where Derek had just been pushed off the side. Kathleen and Nancy headed right for the end. Meredith saw a flash of dark water before she was swung and released into the air.
Falling a few feet down into the water was nothing like the drop she had experienced a little over a year ago, but it was enough to bring back flashes of memories. She panicked when her downward momentum paused, her body twisted, not knowing which way was up, like she was stuck in a deep, dark, heavy limbo. But this time when she inhaled half a mouthful of water, it didn't burn with cold on its way down. Her toes touched bottom and she swum upward for the surface.
She gasped for breath as her head broke the surface, just in time to see Simon throwing a fighting Anna into the water beside her. Meredith coughed and sputtered, mentally reminding herself to keep her mouth closed the next time she found herself falling towards a body of water; maybe things would have ended differently for her last time. She could still remember the burning she had felt when her body had insisted it try to breathe even though she knew she was underwater. And she could remember how disconcerted she felt when the third breath didn't hurt at all. And when she had finally found her way to the surface, she could barely breathe, let alone yell for help. Her lungs felt heavy and saturated like she had never experienced. It hurt; and she couldn't begin to imagine a way out of the water. And the helplessness had begun to take over.
Anna surfaced beside her. "You guys are dead!" She yelled at the gloating faces above her. "You okay?" She asked, turning to Meredith, suddenly concerned.
"Fine," Meredith sputtered, trying not to make a scene as she pulled herself from her trance. This wasn't like the last time. "Just swallowed some water..." She coughed for good measure.
"You sure, cause you look a bit white... You do know how to swim, right?"
"Yeah," Meredith said more confidently. This may have been her first time back in the water in a year, but she definitely did know how to swim.
Derek appeared beside her, having swum around from the side of the dock. "Are you okay?" He asked, his eyes full of concern. He reached for her, and unsuccessfully tried to support her as they both treaded water.
"I'm fine; just caught by surprise," she quickly reassured him.
"Good," Simon called down from above. "You deserved it."
"Shut up!" Derek exclaimed angrily, causing Meredith to flinch.
"Derek," she said carefully. "It's okay. I'm okay."
"Ah, is Derek upset that he got wet too," Nancy called down at him. "Don't be such a spoil sport."
"It's not-" Derek cut himself off, glaring upward at his family. "That was a stupid thing to do to someone who you don't know enough..."
"Derek!" Meredith hissed, forcing his attention to her. "Look at me. I'm fine."
"But..." He trailed off, finally meeting her eyes. "Are you sure?"
She forwent treading fully for a moment to reach a hand out to him. "I'm sure."
The excessive anxiety seemed to drain off his face. "I'm sorry. I wanted to stop them... I tried..."
"It's fine, Derek," she reassured him with a smile, glad when he smiled back. "This is supposed to be fun, right?"
He nodded, looking even more relieved.
"Let's get out of here," Anna mumbled. "It's freezing."
Meredith followed her to the ladder, knowing exactly how much colder it could have been. Derek wrapped an arm around her and held onto the dock as Anna stepped up the ladder first. "I love you so much," he whispered into her ear.
Her hands found his side as she leaned into him, letting him keep her afloat. "I love you more. And Derek, please don't make a scene when we get out." She didn't need him overreacting and ending up with her labelled as the girl you couldn't mess with. She wanted to be an equal part of the family. And if that meant getting thrown in the pond, then so be it.
He sighed. "I won't."
"Thanks." She pressed her lips against his and proceeded to climb out behind Anna, Derek close on her heels.
Mark offered her a hand once she reached the top step. "I'm sorry, Grey," he offered quietly. "I didn't even think..." He looked guilty, knowing he was the only one who would have known better, and Meredith wanted to roll her eyes. As his and Derek's friendship had healed itself over the past year, Mark had slowly developed a big-brother attitude towards her. And she definitely didn't need both of them being over protective, and with Derek she apparently didn't have a say in the matter.
"It's fine, Mark," she quickly assured.
"I'm sorry, man," he offered to Derek as he appeared beside her.
Derek glared at him, and Meredith elbowed him in the stomach. He sighed. "It's okay," he relented. "I just...come here for a second," he motioned to the other side of the dock, away from Meredith.
Meredith was about to stop them when Derek shot her a look, and she recognized a glimmer in his eyes. Mark stopped beside Derek, right at the edge of the dock, completely unsuspecting. Derek leaned close, as if he were about to say something, when he quickly shot his hands out and pushed his best friend backwards into the water. The crowd, still up, away from the pond cheered. Meredith laughed.
"Now we're even," Derek called as Mark surfaced.
"That was cheap, man!" Mark called back as he began to swim around the dock for the ladder.
Derek laughed and met Meredith's eyes. Meredith rolled hers and then narrowed them when he very discreetly motioned to the group at the end of the dock, laughing at Mark as he swum around to the ladder. She nodded and he glanced at Anna, who was also up for the challenge. They got within a few feet before anyone clued in to what they were doing. Phil was caught off guard when they started pushing, and got too close to the edge, where he was easily pushed off. Derek and Anna took on Kathleen and Simon. Kathleen was leaning off the dock, holding onto her husband, who wouldn't let go of Derek's arm. In the end, Derek simply jumped off with them to ensure the win. And Meredith managed to push Nancy off the dock, but was unprepared when the older woman grabbed a hold of her arm, and pulled her in again as well, leaving Anna as the only one standing on the end of the dock, cheering in triumph.
The second time Meredith was submerged under the water she made sure to keep her mouth closed. And when she surfaced again, she did so laughing.
000
Hours later Meredith found herself swathed in one of Derek's large sweatshirts, huddled beside him on a log as they sat around a small fire with his family. Another experience to check off in her book of things she'd never done before. The kids had had a blast cooking, and often burning, marshmallows on sticks they had found in the forest, until they had finally been sent to get ready for bed, leaving only the adults.
The evening was relatively cool, and Meredith was chilled, having spent over an hour playing in the pond. They had managed to throw in almost every adult, and a few of the children. Dean, the only adult other than Carol to remain dry, had offered to drive to the airport for them so they wouldn't have to rush to get showered and redressed.
Meredith sighed happily as she leaned into Derek's warmth. He had been fine since the first time she had ended up in the water, albeit a tad clingy. It had been almost thirteen months since her inadvertent dive off the pier into Elliot Bay, and her subsequent drowning. They had dealt with his fears the last summer and he had been fine for the better part of the past year. However, three weeks prior, the morning news had announced it to be the anniversary of the ferry crash that had claimed over thirty lives. He had definitely been clingy that day. And he was being a little clingy now. And his family had obviously noticed his reaction to her initial toss into the pond. Every once in a while she would catch someone sending her a concerned look, but chose to ignore them at the time. Only Carol knew of the incident. And she was certain they would all know one day, but she hoped not today.
She sighed and rested her head on Derek's shoulder. "I'm tired," she said quietly. "Not used to so much exercise..."
He laughed and pressed his lips against the top of her head. "Mmm-hmm," he agreed. "But guess what?"
"What?"
"We're getting married in three days," he whispered.
"We are," she agreed with a laugh. They had been doing this to each other since Monday. We're getting married in five days. We're getting married in four days. We're getting married in three days... "Actually, it's closer to two and a half."
"Even better," he answered easily.
She lifted her head off his shoulder and pressed her lips against his, not caring who could be watching. "I love you," she murmured, breathless, when she pulled away.
"I love you more."
Meredith shook her head with a laugh. "Not true."
"It is true."
"No, it's not. I love you more."
"Sorry, babe, but it's the other way around..."
She snorted. "Did you just call me babe?" They weren't usually ones for pet names. A few would come up at times, more in joking than anywhere else. He had definitely never called her babe.
He laughed. "Maybe..."
Meredith rolled her eyes. "Whatever; you're still wrong." She lay her head back down against him, and must have drifted off, because he was suddenly shaking her awake. "Wha...?" She mumbled, blinking groggily.
He offered her a smile and tilted his head to motion towards a group of people making their way down the last hill to the lowest field; where they were sitting. "They're here."
She smiled and stood.
"These people look familiar?" Dean called. "Because if they don't I'll take them back and grab four better ones..."
Meredith laughed and made her way to meet them, only to have Izzy come racing down towards her, practically bouncing with every stride.
"I'm so excited for you!" She called as she pulled Meredith into a bear hug. "You're getting married! Soon!" She pulled back, still bouncing. "And this place is beautiful! I loved the house! Oh, and a bonfire, that's awesome!"
"Shut up, Tinkerbell," Cristina demanded. She exchanged a glance with Meredith. "Seriously, she's been like that since you called me yesterday. Five hours on a plane. You would think she's at least slow down..."
"Sorry about that," Meredith offered, exchanging another look with Cristina as Izzy moved on to Derek, pulling him into a hug as she continued her excited babbling.
"This is pretty awesome, Mer," George stated as she stepped in to greet her.
"Thanks for coming at such a last minute," She told him as they exchanged a short hug.
"Are you kidding? I wouldn't have missed it."
"Thank-you, George."
"I wouldn't have missed it either," Alex copied as he too stepped forward.
Meredith laughed and hugged him too. "Thanks, Alex." She stepped back. "Well, I guess you need to come and meet everyone..." She swallowed as she turned to lead them down to the fire, suddenly nervous.
"This is Cristina, Alex, George and Izzy," Meredith said as she paused before the circle of people around the fire. "My...family. And this is Kathleen and Simon; Nancy, who's married to Dean, who picked you up, so you know him, obviously; Natalie whose husband Phil is inside with the kids; Anna and Spencer; and Carol," she finished.
"Wow, you weren't kidding he has a big family," Cristina mumbled.
"Nope," Meredith said with a laugh.
Carol got up and came over to them. "I'm so glad you kids could make. I'm Derek's mother, Carol. So, make sure you all make yourselves comfortable this weekend."
"It's really nice to meet you," Izzy exclaimed, stepping forward and holding out her hand.
Carol shook. "Well, it's good to finally meet Meredith's family. We're her other family."
The blatant use of the term brought tears to Meredith's eyes. Two years ago she had no one. And now she had two families. Derek slung an arm around her waist and kissed the side of her head as they watched their families introduce themselves. Or really, they watched as Izzy bounced from person to person around the circle, with a reluctant George, Cristina and Alex behind her.
"Okay, so we need to take them to their hotel," Derek mumbled into her hair. "It's pretty late. They should probably check in soon."
Meredith nodded. It was almost eleven. "How far away is the hotel?"
"Depends which one they're staying at."
She rolled her eyes. "Well, which on are they staying at?"
He pulled away enough to meet her eyes. "How bad is it going to be if I say I don't know?"
Meredith blinked, suddenly realizing what they hadn't done; realizing what it had been that had been bugging her earlier that day. "Crap," she mumbled. "We didn't book them any rooms for tonight..." She whispered. They had booked rooms for the rest of the week; Thursday through Sunday. But there hadn't been enough free rooms Wednesday night; something about a conference in the area. At the time they hadn't known whether they would be able to get her friends off so early in the week, so they had delayed looking for rooms...and apparently forgotten about it. With the number of things that needed to be taken care of to plan a wedding in five days, something was bound to be missed.
"Crap," she muttered again. "What do we do?"
He shook his head, biting back a laugh. "I guess we go start calling hotels..."
"Stop laughing," she demanded, barely able to contain her own giggles.
"Hypocritical much?"
"Shut up," she hissed. "Are we even going to be able to find that many rooms this late at night?"
"When we know there's a conference nearby until tomorrow? Very doubtful..."
"Crap."
He laughed.
"What's going on?" Carol called.
"Uh, it seems we've forgotten to book hotel rooms for tonight..." Derek told her, trying to keep a straight face. He quickly explained what had gone wrong. "But we'll go up right now and call around."
"It's late," Carol said. "Why don't they just stay here tonight? We can shuffle the kids around. There are plenty of beds in the basement."
None of her friends seemed to have a problem with it, in fact, Izzy seemed almost gleeful at the thought of spending the night, and the others just seemed jet lagged and tired enough not to care where they slept, so Meredith quickly nodded. "That would be great. Thanks, Carol."
"It's what I'm here for, dear," she responded with a shrug. "Now, why don't you kids join us for a bit?"
"They have s'mores," Meredith added. "Have you guys ever had them? They're awesome."
Cristina scoffed. "Seriously, Meredith, who hasn't ever had a s'more?"
"Well, me, before tonight..." Maybe that was simply another normal experience she had missed out on.
They all quickly sat, Meredith noticing her friends were sticking relatively close to her and Derek.
"So, you really have a beautiful home, Mrs. Shepherd," Izzy commented.
"Thank-you, dear, but it's Carol."
"Carol," Izzy corrected with a nod. "The house was amazing, and the land is beautiful. And is that even a pond?" She asked, peering through the darkness.
"Yes it is," Carol responded. "A pond that was made good use of today."
"Oooh, did you go swimming? That's awesome."
"Not swimming, exactly," Meredith answered.
"Not voluntarily is more like it," Anna added, causing Meredith to laugh.
"Nope. Definitely not voluntarily."
"We had a water fight that escalated into the three of us," Anna motioned between herself, Meredith and Derek, "Being thrown into the pond."
"They threw you into the water?" Izzy asked, turning to Meredith.
"It's okay," Anna continued before Meredith could respond. "We got them back..."
"They threw you into the water?" Izzy asked again.
"Well, yeah, but -"
"That was a stupid thing to do," Alex spoke up, glancing around.
"Alex," Meredith said quickly. "It's okay."
"But-"
"No. They didn't know." She said the words without thinking. And suddenly everyone was silent. Meredith sighed. Being the girl that almost died, or did die and came back to life, depending on the way you see it, made people look at you differently. And she really just wanted to be normal in their eyes for as long as she could.
"Fine," she relented. "I had a thing...with water...but it's really not a big deal..." She glanced at Derek, trying to read his expression. He offered her a supportive smile, allowing her to make her own decision. "A little over a year ago, on the day of the ferry crash in Seattle, I got knocked off the pier..." She quickly proceeded to explain the situation to Derek's shocked family. "So, yeah..." She finished weakly, having said everything. "I drowned...Derek saved me...and I'm fine now...It's not a big deal anymore..."
"Mer, I am so sorry," Kathleen said, with Nancy nodding her agreement. "I would never have thrown you into the water if I had known..."
Meredith quickly shook her head. "It's fine. There is a huge difference between a few feet down into a pond and over a dozen feet down into Elliot Bay, believe me."
"But-" Nancy tried, but Meredith quickly cut her off.
"No. I'm fine. And I just...don't want to be treated differently because of it. Today was fine; great, in fact. I had fun."
They seemed to accept her explanation, and fell silent.
Meredith sighed, suddenly feeling uncomfortable, knowing she was being judged.
"Well, if you like that..." Alex spoke up, and Meredith was grateful for it until he smirked at her and finished his sentence, "...We have plenty of embarrassing Meredith stories."
Meredith glared at him. "Alex, shut up."
"Oh, we have tons of stories to tell," Cristina added.
"Nobody wants to hear them."
"I do," Anna called; and was joined by her sisters and brothers-in-law. Even Carol looked interested.
Meredith huffed, only now realizing how bad of an idea it was to have both families together. She had already learned that making fun of one member was a good way for families to bond; she had heard many stories of Derek's childhood from his sisters. So for her and Derek's families to bond, it would only make sense that stories would come up. However, Derek was her friend's boss, meaning they would stay away from anything involving him as much as they could. This couldn't end well for her. "No, you don't," she tried, knowing it was useless.
"We could tell them about Steve," Izzy suggested.
The name sounded vaguely familiar to her but she couldn't place it. "Steve..." Meredith muttered.
Cristina rolled her eyes. "Come on, you know...Steve...with the problem...that ended up being neural..."
Horror filled her as Meredith realized who they were talking about, and the horrifically embarrassing day that had followed Steve's admittance; that was definitely the day she had once and for all given a sincere farewell to one night stands. "You wouldn't dare," she hissed. She could feel Derek laughing beside her and she quickly muttered for him to shut up. He, also, definitely remembered the day.
"Oh, you know we would," Alex countered. "And there's nothing you can do to stop us..."
"Hey, we just flew you out here..."
He shrugged. "I have my credit card, I could get home if I had to...not that you do anything about it anyway."
Meredith grumbled. "I own the house you live in." She tried a different tactic.
Alex paused. "Fine, but you only get to use that once."
"That's not fair."
"Fine, twice, but that's all I'm offering. You get to veto this and one more."
Meredith rolled her eyes. "Fine." She turned to Cristina and Izzy. "And that goes for you two as well." She turned to George. "And you spend enough time there, so it goes for you too."
Cristina scoffed. "You wouldn't have the guts to do anything about it..."
"Try me," Meredith countered, knowing Cristina had her.
"She can't say anything anyway," Derek added, finally coming to her aid. "You were one of his doctor's, were you not?" He asked Cristina. "Ethically, you are bound to privacy laws."
Cristina huffed. "Damn it..."
"Wait," Kathleen called. "We still want to know..."
"No you don't," Meredith answered.
"It's okay, we have others," Cristina reassured. "Now, where to start..." She trailed off, shooting Meredith a triumphant smirk. "How about what Meredith is like on morphine?"
Derek laughed again, and Meredith elbowed him. "I have stories too, you know," she threatened. He rolled his eyes at her and tightened his grip, still smiling.
"Oooh, this sounds good," Spencer said. "Why was she on morphine?"
"I was getting my appendix out. See? Not an interesting story." Meredith tried to stop it there. She only had vague memories of that day, but what she did remember told her this wasn't a story she needed to know.
"Oh, but it's a very interesting story," Derek countered. "You're very open when you're high..."
She gaped at him. "What are you doing?"
He smirked. "Getting you back for siding with my sisters all week."
Meredith huffed, wondering how everything had gone so wrong so quickly. How had she ended up on the losing end of one against fourteen? The ability to veto was there; but she was hesitant to use it for this. There were plenty more, likely worse, things they could use against her. So she sat and silently stewed as they told the story to Derek's laughing family, along with quite a few more, until it was after midnight and it was decided they should go in for the night.
"Oh!" Izzy exclaimed excitedly as they all made to put out the fire and bring in all of the left over s'mores supplies. "Technically it's tomorrow!"
"So?" Meredith asked, throwing her a questioning look.
Izzy bounced over to her. "You're getting married in two days!"
Meredith shook her head at Izzy's antics, but couldn't help the smile that came to her face. And apparently Derek felt the same wave of excitement as his arm found her waist and he pulled himself close.
"No one cares," Cristina countered.
"I care," Izzy countered, dancing around between George and Alex as they hiked up the hill.
Cristina sighed heavily and turned to Kathleen. "Can you throw her into the water?"