This chapter brings someone into Meredith's life that she is least expecting...as well as some fun at the baby shower...and of course the sweet MerDer moments we are all craving. Enjoy!
Chapter 29 - Blast from the Past
Meredith hummed softly to herself as she finished putting the last of the grocery bags into the trunk of the BMW. It was later in the afternoon, the day before the baby shower. Derek was working late, and she wanted to surprise him with some dinner. Her cooking skills had improved since they had first met, and even more so since she'd gotten pregnant. It must have had something to do with the whole nesting instinct, she mused, but whatever the reason, she'd been experimenting lately, with better results than before.
She straightened up, putting her hand to her lower back, as the baby kicked a little. "Hush little one...you're being way too active..." she murmured, smiling gently. She turned to push the cart away, but found someone standing behind her to take it instead.
"Oh!" she gasped, looking at the older man standing there, a look of uncertainty on his face. "Are you all right?" Her physician's first instinct made her think he was not feeling well. He had thinning gray hair, and his face was lined and pale, his eyes a little bloodshot.
"Yes, no...I mean...you looked familiar..." he muttered, touching her arm.
Meredith considered him again, trying to recall if he'd been a patient she'd treated at the hospital. He did look vaguely familiar as well, but she couldn't put her finger on it. But she backed away a little, her fingers on the key fob, ready to press the car alarm if need be. There were several people hurrying through the parking lot at this time of day, so hopefully this wasn't some deranged ex-patient with a beef against doctors. It happened from time to time, she realized, suppressing a flicker of fear.
"Do I know you?" she asked.
"Is your name Meredith Grey?"
"Well, yes...Dr. Meredith Grey-Shepherd, actually..." she acknowledged.
"Ah, it is you...and you became a doctor, just like your mother," he smiled a little, and he seemed relieved that she was indeed who he thought she was.
"You knew my mother?"
"Very well..." He paused, taking the shopping cart in his hands. "Let me put this away for you, and I'll be right back." He ambled away with it, returning it to the stash of other carts, and she watched him walk towards her. Her breath caught, and something seemed to click in her mind.
"You're Thatcher, aren't you?" she asked, when he joined her again. "You're my father..."
With a rueful smile, he nodded. "Yes, I am, Meredith. Will you forgive an old man for his past mistakes?"
Meredith bit her lip. "I actually don't know much about your past mistakes, other than the fact you disappeared out of my life when I was five. Mother didn't speak of you much..."
"I'm sure she didn't. I admit, I wasn't the best husband, but we had mutual problems." He pushed his hands into his jacket pockets, as if trying to hide the shaking of his fingers. "You look so much like her, that's how I recognized you..."
"Really?"
He nodded. "You have the same look about you, but your eyes are gentler, kinder...are you happy, Meredith?"
She rested her hand on her baby bump. "Very."
"And you probably don't want my interfering in your life, do you?"
"It's kind of a shock, to say the least."
"Can we go somewhere and talk...I see you're pregnant, I don't want to keep you on your feet..."
"I don't know..."
"Look, I'm here in Seattle for just a few days on business. I'm staying at the Marriott downtown. If you want to talk, call me. Bring your husband, I'd like to meet him."
"I'll think about it."
"Good. You know, I never meant to hurt anyone, Meredith. It just seemed better to get out of your life at the time. Ellis was very involved in her career, and she made it clear that I was secondary..."
Meredith sighed. "I don't know...she never really explained what happened."
"So hear my side. I wasn't perfect either, god knows..."
"Did you marry again?"
"Yes, actually, a lovely woman, we have two daughters."
"I see...and you want forgiveness from me now..." Meredith was conflicted, not sure how to deal with this unexpected turn of events.
"Not forgiveness...just understanding...it's part of the steps in AA..." He shrugged a little, admitting his addiction without elaborating.
"I'll think about it," she repeated, pushing the button to unlock the car doors. "But don't be surprised if you don't hear from me."
"I'll understand, Meredith." He gave her a small smile. "Good luck with the baby, if I don't hear from you. Boy or a girl?"
"Girl..." She couldn't help returning the smile then.
"Girls seem to run in the Grey family," he observed, smiling faintly.
"Well, yes I suppose so...now I have to go..."
"Yes..." Thatcher watched her ease into the car, before walking away into the deepening twilight. Meredith checked the rearview mirror, as he disappeared from sight. Of all things...this had to be the most unexpected event ever.
"Derek...he's my father, and yet he's a stranger," Meredith commented later that evening, as they relaxed after dinner. He had enjoyed the dinner she'd surprised him with, and now he was returning the favor by massaging her feet as they sat on the sofa together.
"So...do you want to talk to him?"
"Maybe...it's tempting to find out some things about my past that I don't know about. He seems to want to mend the rift. Part of being in AA apparently...but he's got two daughters as it is...after all this time, now he wants to become part of my life?"
"Honey, whatever happened between your parents has no bearing on your life now. Maybe you need to talk to him, have some closure, if nothing else. Then if you never want to see him again, so be it."
Meredith rested her head against the arm of the sofa. "Damn...I don't want to know how he was there for them...that he attended dance recitals, and birthday parties...it's not fair..."
Derek considered the best response to this, not wanting to upset her. "I see this kind of thing a lot, you know. Divorce isn't always good for children, but if your parents had stayed together, maybe it would have been even uglier." He rubbed the arches of her feet gently, feeling her body relaxing under his touch. "I can go with you, if you want to see him again."
"I'll see..." she sighed, as he abandoned her feet, in favor of moving up her body, pressing small kisses along her throat, and then her mouth. "Mmm...don't stop..."
"I don't intend to..."
"You mean your father is actually here, in Seattle?" Izzie asked, as she settled onto the sofa the next afternoon. "How bizarre is that?"
"He's just here for a few days. I don't even know where he lives," Meredith replied, putting her feet up on the ottoman. "But he's got two daughters with his new wife. Why would I want to be involved with him now?"
"He's your father..." Cristina pointed out. "You could talk to him. My Dad died when I was fifteen...made me want to become a surgeon, I wish I could talk to him again."
"Different situation, Cris. He left us, he didn't die." Meredith frowned a little. "Though he could have been dead, for all I knew."
"So just hear him out. Besides, he doesn't live here...what's the harm?"
Addison plopped down in the love seat opposite them. "Don't see him if you don't want to, Meredith. I know how it can be..."
"You're not helping, you realize that..." Meredith sighed. "Let's just not think about that for now, okay?"
"Just open the gifts..." Callie urged, settling next to Addison, and winding her fingers with hers. "I love to see baby stuff...it's so cute!" She exchanged a little smile with Addison. "Maybe one day we'll have one of our own..."
"Maybe..." Addison agreed, leaning against Callie. "Seeing Meredith all glowing and happy makes me rethink my doubts about that."
Meredith smiled at the two of them. "So which one would be pregnant?"
"And who would the father be?" Cristina asked, arching one eyebrow.
"That's why God invented sperm donors, honey," Addison laughed. "And Callie has already expressed her desire to carry the baby, if and when we decide to have one."
"No ifs...just when..." Callie countered mischievously. "Admit it, honey...one of these days we're having a baby..."
"Soon," Addison had to agree. "But let's celebrate Meredith's little girl for now, shall we?" She held up her wineglass. "To sweet little girls..."
"And being happy..." Izzie added, holding up her glass.
"And being in love..." Meredith said, smiling, looking at all of them.
"And little boys..." Bailey laughed. "Gotta defend my son!"
"Boys have their uses..." Addison acknowledged, "...sometimes..."
"Sometimes..." They all dissolved into laughter, before Meredith began to open the presents they had piled on the coffee table. They exclaimed over every little nightie, or blanket or booties that was revealed, all in various hues of pink.
"She's going to be very well dressed," Meredith observed. "Along with everything we've bought..."
"As it should be!" Addison laughed. "Might as well start out young. Derek will need to realize that he's got two girls now that need to go shopping!"
"I think he's well prepared for it. He took one look at the baby clothes we've already bought, and just shook his head," Meredith grinned.
"Ah, he's going to love it," Izzie smirked. "He's a changed man from the time you met him, Mer. Your love changed him."
"Do you really think men change like that?" Cristina asked, raising one eyebrow. "I mean, either they're already great, or they're an ass..."
"So which is Andrew?"
"He's great, thank you for asking. But we're not talking about him...I mean, look at Mark, Izzie...he wasn't always so settled down, now he's happy with you. And Derek wasn't always a family guy, Mer..."
"It's one of life's great mysteries," Bailey offered. "Whether it's our influence, and I like to think so myself, or whether they were just waiting for the chance to settle down...who knows for sure?"
"Women are so much easier..." Addison laughed. "I can't imagine why I waited so long to realize that..."
"Still, we can't all be lesbians," Cristina noted, drinking her beer.
"Oh, sweetie...you don't know what you're missing..." Addison had to tease her. "After all, women don't leave towels on the floor, or wet spots in the bed..."
"Or hog the covers and snore..."
Meredith giggled. "Well, Derek may argue the snoring part...according to him, I'm quite loud..."
"He's talking about sex or snoring?" Izzie laughed. "Cuz I remember some epic sessions..."
"Shush..." Meredith gave her a warning glare. "I remember you and Mark were..."
"Okay, okay...nuf said..." Bailey interjected. "I do NOT need to hear about the love lives of my residents. Bad enough I'm losing you soon, Meredith."
"I'll be back soon."
"Do me a favor and talk to your father, Meredith," Bailey added. "I know how it is to be estranged from a parent, and it could be a good thing to smooth things over. As Yang pointed out, he doesn't live in Seattle, so talking with him while he's here isn't a big hardship. Settle it and move on..."
"Maybe you're right," Meredith sighed.
"So here we are..." Meredith said softly, as she and Derek settled into chairs in the restaurant at the Marriott. "Derek, this is my father..." The term felt strange on her tongue.
"Good to meet you, sir," Derek said, shaking hands. "But I will say that I'm here for Meredith, and I support whatever she decides to do. You've caused her some anxiety, and she doesn't need that in this stage of her pregnancy, so I hope you have something worthwhile to say to her." He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, making it clear that Meredith was his only concern, something that Thatcher had given up many years ago.
Thatcher nodded slowly, acknowledging this unspoken fact. "I admit, dropping into your life wasn't planned, Meredith. But thanks to good fortune, I saw you there, and I knew I needed to make peace with you."
"Just tell me what happened between you and Mom. I need to know."
"Meredith, your mother was an amazing woman...but her career as a surgeon was first and foremost in her mind. I met her when she was just beginning her internship at Seattle Grace, and the intense joy she had for life attracted me to her." He paused, seeing the look of disbelief on Meredith's face. "Oh yes, she was happy then. She was doing what she loved, and everything was open to her."
"That doesn't mesh with the Ellis Grey I knew..." Meredith murmured.
"Somewhere along the line, she changed. She focused so much on becoming the greatest surgeon, of finding new challenges to overcome...and she met someone at the hospital that could work with her on those challenges." His voice was tinged with sadness, and Meredith touched his hand across the table. "Oh, it didn't happen right away, we were happy for a few years, after all. You were born, and she tried to be the mother you needed..."
"But it wasn't in her, was it?" Meredith asked softly.
"She couldn't give up the thrill of the OR; and the other man in her life fed her addiction."
"Who was it?"
Thatcher sighed, before taking a sip of his coffee. "I never knew...just someone in her group, I could sense her love for me slipping away bit by bit..."
"So you left her...and abandoned me as well..."
"I couldn't take you, Meredith. I was drinking a lot at the time, something that stayed with me for many years...I admit that freely now. I couldn't have taken care of you; she was better equipped for that."
"Not really..." Meredith recalled. "Where did you go?"
"Boston, my hometown...it's where I met Susan, and tried to start over..."
"Did you ever try to call me...send me a birthday card?"
"Of course I did...every year, I called and sent you a gift...everything was returned, and Ellis changed her phone number on a regular basis. Finally I realized it was hopeless, and concentrated on the daughters I had with Susan. Forgive me, Meredith..."
She closed her eyes, and Derek squeezed her fingers gently. "I didn't know...she didn't talk about you...it was like you were dead to her. Seeing you in the parking lot the other day was like seeing a ghost..."
Thatcher took another swallow of coffee. "I wasn't perfect, Meredith. I drank too much, and continued even after I married Susan. It wasn't until Molly had her baby girl last year that I realized I needed to do something about it."
"You have a granddaughter already?"
"I told you girls run in the Grey family..."
"So what do you want from me?"
"Just your acceptance of my apology. As I told you, I thought it was the right thing to do, but maybe it wasn't. Thank you for hearing me out...I know I have no place in your life, and you seem to have done well for yourself. I'll understand if you don't want to keep in touch with me."
Meredith exchanged a glance with Derek. He knew her emotions were bubbling thanks to the pregnancy, and he wasn't sure how she was going to handle all of this. "I don't know where to go from here," she said softly. "But let me think about this...when our baby is older, she may want to meet her grandfather; after all, it's the only one she has."
Thatcher looked at Derek in surprise. "Your parents.?"
"Died when I was in college..."
"I'm so sorry..."
"So do your other daughters know about me?"
"I told Susan about you when I met her. The girls know they have a half-sister, but no details."
"What kind of work do they do?"
"They both went into teaching, Molly teaches high school, and Lexie decided to teach kindergarten. No doctors there..."
"Well, good..."
"I leave tomorrow, Meredith. You can keep in touch, or not, whatever you decide." He pushed a piece of paper across the table. "This is my phone number, and my email address."
Derek took the paper, nodding in agreement. "Whatever she decides is fine with me."
"Just take care of her, Derek," Thatcher said quietly, his voice thick with emotion. "That's all I ask."
"So he's gone back to Boston..."
"Yes..." Meredith sighed, laying back on the bed, watching Derek undress. "And I'm not going to think about it right now, okay...?" She rubbed her hand over the swell of her belly thoughtfully.
"Sure..." Derek put his clothes away in the closet before turning back to her. Totally at ease with his body, he stalked across the floor naked, much to her own enjoyment. Her pulse quickened, and she felt that little quiver of desire stir inside of her.
"Oh honey...just get over here and make me a happy woman..." she beckoned him with her finger. "Make me forget about everything else..."
"That I can do," he assured her, crawling towards her on the bed, with that look in his eyes she knew so well. He eased her down against the pillows and bent over her, his warm breath fanning her breast. The tip of his tongue teased her nipple, and she slid her hands up along his shoulders, pulling him closer. He nibbled and sucked lightly at her sensitive nipple, then moved to the other, making her writhe beneath him.
"Derek..." she sighed happily, forgetting everything but how good he made her feel. Time had no meaning when they were together like this. She felt his hand caress the length of her body, pausing at her belly, his palm warm on her skin. Her hips lifted, as she tried to get him to give her more of what she wanted.
Derek raised his head, his eyes full of passion, watching the flush creep along her skin as he slid his fingers lower, parting her legs and touching her damp folds. For a moment, he teased her, with feather soft touches, just enough to make her more aroused. Just as she felt the tremor of pleasure building, he moved lower again, replacing his fingers with his tongue and she gasped at the sudden change. He licked her, in long sensuous laps that made her body quiver in delicious excitement. Her hips rose to meet him, as his hands slid under her, guiding her rhythm while his tongue danced and probed. He knew exactly where to take her, loving the taste of her on his lips, loving the way she gave up everything to him like this, surrendering to the love that flowed between them. The orgasm began to take her away, and she threaded her fingers in his thick hair, moaning in satisfaction.
Just as she throbbed from the sensations, Derek lifted his head and moved his body over hers. "I want to be inside of you..." he murmured, entering her with a deep flex of his hips that sent the pleasure spiking even higher. He held her carefully, pulling her upwards so that he could drive in as deep as possible. Each plunge of his cock made them both moan, as he moved with deliberate slowness. Meredith met his eyes, seeing the hunger for more in his expression, as he took them both to the edge of losing control.
"You look so...beautiful..." he panted, leaning closer to kiss her, his tongue driving against hers. Joined completely together, her body twitched and the climax roared through her in waves, taking him with her. He shuddered at the intensity of the moment, kissing her again as she squeezed around him, moaning and shivering in delight.
Derek slowly moved, easing away from her to lay beside her, cradling her against his chest. Meredith stretched languidly next to him, her hair tickling his nose. "Derek..." she murmured drowsily, her fingers toying with the hair along his chest. "...thank you for being there today..."
He stroked her hair softly. "I wouldn't have let you go alone even if you wanted to."
"Seriously?"
"Of course...what kind of husband would I be to let you go into that kind of meeting, with the emotions running high, without being there for you?"
Meredith turned to look at him. "I really don't know what to do about him."
"You'll know when the time is right. But he's left it in your hands, so that's the main thing. You can take your time to decide. You're a kind-hearted woman, Meredith, I'm sure you'll make the right decision." He kissed her temple, as she settled against him again.
"I can't imagine leaving a child behind." Meredith already knew the bond to her unborn child was like nothing else on earth.
"He thought it was the only choice, unfortunately your mother wasn't equipped to be the parent you needed. Don't let it cloud your life again now, honey."
"You're right...we'll be good parents, right?"
"The best we can." He could feel her body relaxing further against him, as she began to fall asleep. He hugged her tightly. "I love you...sleep well..."
"Love you too..." she mumbled, before succumbing sleep, too content and safe to worry about anything at the moment. Derek could always make her feel that way...