Hey there ! Enjoy this new chapter!

When Meredith came back to the loft, Rick was waiting for her in the living room, his laptop on the coffee table.

"Hey Ricky, how was your day?" she asked, walking towards him seductively.

"Horrible." he simply answered.

"I knew that detective couldn't keep you happy for long. But you know, I'm still here when you need … or want me kitten." Meredith said, moving her hand up his thigh.

"Don't touch me!" Rick almost grown, making Meredith back off.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked.

"What's wrong with me? Well, let me see. Oh, I know! My daughter's mother stood her up at the airport for a three week vacation in Europe!"

"Oh come on, it's not that bad. I couldn't just leave the audition Richard!"

"Meredith, your audition was at 11, your plane at 6!"

"Yeah, well, the director invited me to lunch and then we went back to his place and …"

"You know what, let's just stop here. I really don't need to hear the end of that sentence. The fact is, Alexis was in tears when we got back here! And for what? A role? What kind of mother are you Meredith?"

"I'm sure it's not so bad. I'm going to talk to Alexis, I'm sure she will understand." Meredith said, getting up and heading to the stairs.

"She not here right now. She's out with Kate." Rick said, remaining seated on the couch, preparing for the scene he knew was coming.

"What! How dare she take my daughter out when I'm here. It's my job to take care of her. Your detective has absolutely no rights over Alexis!" Meredith almost yelled.

"YOUR daughter asked Kate if they could go out, just the two of them, to get some air. I think they went to eat and then to the movies, or the theatre I don't remember. But the thing is, you can only blame yourself. If you had showed up at the airport and taken Alexis to Europe as you had planned for months, you two would be together right now." Rick said, trying to stay calm. He couldn't believe how Meredith was acting. "Oh, and there is no way you're staying here tonight. Pack your bags and get a hotel room. I want you gone by the time Kate and Alexis come home."

"Oh, so your Kate is making all the decisions around here now."

"No she doesn't. And it was not her decision. Alexis asked me to tell you." Rick said, knowing it would hurt her but right now he couldn't care less. And it was true anyway. Alexis was the one who had asked that her mother didn't stay the night.

"Well, I'm calling her right now! I'm her mother, I don't take orders from my child, and certainly not some as stupid as that!" Meredith declared, fishing her phone out of her purse.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

"It's her. Again." Alexis said, placing her cell phone on the table they were sitting at in the small coffee shop. "I guess Dad told her I don't want her to stay. Doesn't that make me a horrible daughter?" she asked, looking at Kate with tears gathering in her eyes.

"Alexis, I'm not sure you could be a bad daughter even if you wanted to." Kate said, smiling as she squeezed the girl's hand.

"I'm sorry. It must be hard for you hearing me complain about my mother when you would give anything to have yours back. I'm sorry."

"Hey, you don't need to apologize. Yes I would give anything to have my mother back but I can tell you that if she had ever done what your mother did tonight, I would be more than mad at her."

"I should be used it really. It's not like it's the first time. It happened before and I'm pretty sure it's going to happen again but every time … I can't help but get my hopes up. Thinking that maybe this time she'll keep her promise. I'm so stupid!"

"Hey Alexis, you're not stupid, far from it. She is the stupid one, not knowing what she is passing on. It's her loss. Don't go blaming yourself for that, if someone's to blame for the situation it's her. And …"

Kate was cut off by Alexis's phone ringing again, and Meredith's face flashing on the screen once more. Kate was surprised when Alexis slid the phone towards her.

"Can you pick up? And tell her that I don't want to talk to her right now? I can't deal with her tonight, I'll see her tomorrow."

"Sure." Kate said, tapping the 'answer' button of the phone. "Meredith, stop calling. She doesn't want to talk to you right now. She'll see you tomorrow but let her at least have peace this evening." Kate said in the phone, not letting Meredith any time to speak before she hung up.

The two girls continued to talk for a while when Kate received a text message form Rick saying that he had tried everything but that Meredith absolutely refused to leave the loft without having talked to her daughter. Hearing that, Alexis's face fell and tears began to roll down her cheeks. Kate, noticing that she was on the verge of a breakdown, paid for their drinks and they left the coffee shop. They walked in the streets for a while in silence before Alexis started talking again.

"We should go home. It's getting pretty late and I'm tired."

"Are you sure?" Kate asked, draping an arm around the young woman's shoulders.

"I really don't want to talk to her, or even see her right now but I don't have much of a choice so …"

"You know what? Actually you have a choice." Kate said, searching for something in her bag, smiling when she found it. "You can spend the night at my place if you want. It'll give you time to sleep and think before you face your mother."

"Are you sure, I wouldn't want to …"

"I'm sure Alexis. I wouldn't propose it if I wasn't sure." Kate said with a reassuring smile.

"Thanks. You're a life savior." Alexis said, hugging Kate tight. "Are you going back to the loft?"

"Yeah … I … I kind of have trouble sleeping without your father now." Kate admitted, blushing slightly. Now, let's find a cab, I'll drop you off at my place and then go to the loft." she continued, already texting Rick the solution they had come up with.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

When Kate entered the loft, Meredith was on the phone in the kitchen and she could see Rick in his office, sitting at his desk but he wasn't writing, just staring at the screen of his laptop. She put her coat and shoes in the closet and walked directly to Rick, not responding to the death glares Meredith was throwing at her. When she went to hug him, putting her arms around his neck from behind, she noticed that he was not trying to write. He was looking at pictures of Alexis from when she was just a tiny baby with two giant blue eyes and a few red hairs on her head.

"Oh, she was so cute." Kate said, smiling as she moved closer to the screen to examine the picture.

"Yeah, from the moment she entered the world, I could say that she would be special. That seems like the biggest cliché ever because she's my daughter, of course I'd think she's the most beautiful baby in the whole world, but really, I could feel she would be different, and that she would change me for the better. It kills me that her own mother doesn't see that, not even now."

"You did good with her Rick, more than good even. She's the daughter everyone would dream of. I sincerely hope our children will be even half good as her." Kate said, kissing his cheek before heading in the bedroom.

Rick stayed awestruck in his chair for a while, hearing her words over and over again in his head. OUR children, she said our children …

Suddenly, he was out of his chair and running after her in the bedroom. He just had to make sure he heard her right.

So, what do you think? Liked it?