Sorry for for the short chapter! Just a bit of fluffy in between that I wanted to write down. Serious stuff is coming later! Hope you enjoy the new chapter! Please review, comment, or give me any feedback at all!
And a HUGE thank you to ashmo2000, Patsy, and roganjalex for their comments on almost all off my chapters and for being there since chapter one! Your feedback makes my day!
Today was the day it got real.
Today was the day that Derek and Meredith started a family.
Today was the day that they got a daughter.
Today was the day that they signed the adoption papers.
Today they got to take Natalie home.
Today was a crazy da
Meredith was Scared. As. Hell.
She was so scared in fact, that this morning she had spent almost half an hour hurling into the toilet. She just couldn't keep anything down. Her stomach felt like it was twisted into knots in her abdomen. Her throat was burning and her breath was absolutely vile. She had Derek had just finished moving to the house in the woods this morning, and now the master bathroom already smelled horrid.
They had to make a few changes to the house before Natalie arrived. Derek had built a wheelchair ramp up to the deck. She was just learning how to use her prosthetic and still used the chair for the majority of her movement. They also put a seat in Natalie's shower in her bathroom, to help her shower with only one leg.
They had finally set everything up this morning. They had even set up a room for Natalie. They walls were a light turquoise color and the bedding was gray. She had a white bed, desk, and a chest of drawers. They even got her her own personal computer. Before the accident, she had been enrolled in an online school before the accident, she and Derek had decided to let her continue with this type of schooling. Plus, Natalie didn't make friends very easily in the first place. And now it would be even harder to get people to like her. It was like, Hey! Who wants to be Best Friends with the weird girl with one leg? Anyone? Anyone?
That was another thing that Meredith liked about Natalie.
Natalie wasn't happy, and cheery, and extremely outgoing. She was quiet, if you didn't know her. She wasn't happy. Too much crap had happened to her in the past for her to be happy all the time. She was only happy when there was something to be happy about.
She was almost like a mini copy of Meredith. Same weird quirks. Same rare smile. Same snarky comments. She even had the same dirty blonde hair. They were like twins.
Of course, Meredith hoped that Natalie didn't have as much of a friendship with tequila as she did.
Never mind. That was impossible. No one had as much of a friendship with tequila as Meredith Grey.
Meredith sat shotgun in the front seat of their Porsche. She was nervously tapping her fingers on her thighs. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. Where the hell was Derek? They were going to the hospital to pick up Natalie this morning. They were going to be late. Her first day as an official mother and she was going to be late. Awesome.
That was what the rest of her life was going to be like.
"Derek!" She hollered. "Get your ass out here!"
Her husband came running out of the house, his hair grossly perfect. Today's newspaper was in his hand. So that's what he'd been doing.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Derek told her. He buckled himself in the driver's seat, and placed the key in the ignition. The engine purred to life with a loud rumble.
"You should be! You're going to make us late!" She yelled at him angrily. "We are going to seem like awful parents. Late for our first day!"
"Like I said, I'm sorry." Derek rolled his eyes at Meredith's irritated glare. "I got a little distracted by the newspaper." He said as he began to drive slowly out of the driveway.
"What?" Meredith asked. "Why?"
"Read the cover story!" He threw the paper at her lap. Meredith caught it and slowly lifted it up.
"Why Derek? What is so interesting that y-Oh my God!" Meredith's blue eyes got absolutely huge as she read the cover story on the paper. It read 'Homeless Samaritan Adopted by Doctors' "This….this…,this is about us, and..and..and Natalie."
Meredith turned to her husband and stared at him, absolutely shocked.
"I know." Derek told her. "It's crazy. Read it!"
"Okay." Meredith said, clearing her throat. "Six months ago, a Jane Doe saved the life of Dr. April Kepner, a trauma surgeon at Seattle Grace-Mercy West Hospital, by pushing her out of the way of a semi. She got a broken arm, dislocated shoulder, severe brain injuries, and had to have her leg amputated. After all of this trauma and surgery, she was stuck in a coma for a day. When she woke up, she was able to tell the physicians her name: Natalie. Just Natalie. No last name. She remembered her previous life, before the wreck. Many asked why she was outside the night of the blizzard, and she told them. It was a shocking truth. Natalie was a homeless orphan, living on the streets of Seattle after she ran away from the foster care system."
Derek kept driving as Meredith kept reading. "Her primary doctors, neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd and his wife, fellow surgeon, Dr. Meredith Grey, became very close to the girl. 'They became like my family, the family I never had. They took care of me, hung out with me, brought me food. They were amazing.' Natalie told the Seattle Gazette"
"Wait." Meredith put down the paper. "When did they interview her?"
"I have no idea!" Derek laughed surprised. "I'm going to have to ask her about that when we get her."
"No kiddin." Meredith grunted. Derek shot her a sly smile.
"Keep reading!"
Okay, okay. Calm down! I'll keep reading! 'Derek and Meredith seemed to agree. Three months ago, they asked Natalie a very serious question: if they could adopt her. 'I said, "Really? You want me? The random girl with one leg?"' Natalie said. "But, they seemed very serious about wanting to adopt me. It was probably the best day of my life." This heart-warming story just goes to show that at one moment, your life can be awful. You can be homeless, orphaned, and severely injured. And the next, you could have a family, and a home. Never take any moment in your life for granted. It could change everything.' "
Meredith set the paper down on her knees. It truly hit her now that she and Derek had dramatically changed Natalie's life, for the better. Not only were they adopting her, giving her a home, a family, a chance at a good life, they also gave her the gift of life. Without Derek, she would be brain dead right now, gorped, gone. He saved her spiritually and medically.
They sat in silence for the rest of the ride, including the fifteen minute trip on the ferry. They just stared out the windshield, out onto the road, at the sidewalks, at the smiling faces they passed by.
Suddenly, everything seemed to be a little bit clearer. The sun was shining just a little bit brighter. The sky was just a little more blue. And surprisingly, considering they were in Seattle, it wasn't raining.
They pulled into Derek's parking spot, one that was just steps from the main entrance. Of course, Meredith thought. Only the best for McDreamy!
Derek pulled the key out of the ignition and looked his wife up and down. "You ready?" He asked sincerely, wanting to know the answer.
"Yes." Meredith replied. And this time, she meant it. She wasn't lying. She wasn't saying what she thought Derek wanted to hear. She was being completely honest. She was ready. She was ready to change Natalie's life.
Suddenly, all her nerves, and all her fears, and all her worries just, disappeared. Only excitement remained, and that was feeling that Meredith got rarely.
In unison, the duo unbuckled their seatbelts and got out of the car. And they walked towards the entrance of the hospital, towards the future, with their heads held high, and their hands intertwined.