Chapter 6

Derek took a deep breathe, promising himself to stay upbeat, and he walked into the hospital room again. Izzie stood up as soon as she saw him, and she walked towards the door. "Hi Derek," she greeted him. "See you soon, Chrissy."

"Bye Aunt Izzie," called Chrissy. "Hi Daddy." She was smiling, and he smiled back with his McDreamy smile. He was so happy to hear her call him Daddy. It was amazing how quickly she'd adapted to having a dad. "Hi Chrissy. How are you today?"

"I'm tired. But I'm happy to see you. I love you so much."

"Well, I'm very happy to be here with you. I went to the trailer last night, and I noticed that you've been visiting my trailer."

"I love the trailer."

"Really?"

"Yes, I haven't been since I got sick, but Mommy used to take him there every Saturday if she had the day off. We'd play and she'd tell me stories about my daddy because it was his home."

"What kind of stories?"

"She'd tell me that he had a ferryboat cap and he loved ferries. " Chrissy smiled. "I love ferries, just like my daddy."

Derek smiled. "I want to go on a ferry ride with you some day."

"That would be fun. I really want to go home."

"I hope you'll be going home soon. But right now, you have to be patient and wait for the doctors to say you're ready to go home." Derek decided to change the subject, "Have you ever used skype?"

"No. What is skype?

"It's like using a camera phone." He sat down on the hospital bed and took Chrissy in his lap, putting his laptop on her lap so she had a good view. He turned the laptop on. "I'm calling my mom, your grandma, now. She wants to meet you." Carolyn appeared on the screen, together with Lizzie and Kathy. "Chrissy, here's your grandma, your Aunt Kathy, and your Aunt Lizzie." Chrissy gave a smile and softly said, "Hi."

"Hi Chrissy," said Caroline. "I'm your daddy's mommy, and I have two of his sisters here with me, your Aunt Lizzie and your Aunt Kathy. You have two more aunts, Aunt Amy, who is working as an intern in Baltimore, and your Aunt Nancy, who couldn't be here tonight. She is a doctor and works with women who are having babies." Derek frowned. He knew why his sister Nancy wasn't there, and it had nothing to do with babies. "We wanted to let you know how happy we are to meet you, and that we are praying for you."

Chrissy looked puzzled.

"We are asking God to make you better," explained Caroline.

"Thank you," said Chrissy, politely.

Derek wondered if Meredith had ever talked about God with Chrissy. He didn't recall ever talking about religion with her. He also noted that Chrissy was shy. "Mom, Chrissy likes ferryboats, just like me."

"That's nice, Derek. When Derek was little, I would take him on the Staten Island ferry. And sometimes we'd take the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. When you're better, maybe your daddy can bring you to New York, and we can go on a ferry boat ride together."

"Maybe," said Chrissy. "I have to ask my mommy."

"Your mommy could come, too," said Caroline.

"You have fifteen first cousins here in New York, and they'd all love to meet you. We have a big family here in New York," said Lizzie.

"My family in Seattle is big," said Chrissy. "I have mommy, and Aunt Izzie, Aunt Cristina, Uncle George, Uncle Alex, Aunt Bailey . . ."

"Chrissy, it's great that you have so many people who love you, both in Seattle and in New York" interrupted Derek. He wasn't looking forward to telling his mother that all these relatives were her mother's colleagues and that Meredith had no family.

"I can't wait to meet you," said Caroline. "Daddy's going to tell me a good time to visit."

"I want to go home."

"I'm sure you do. I can visit you at your home in Seattle, if you're home."

"I have to ask Mommy."

"Don't worry, Daddy will talk to Mommy," said Caroline.

"And I have lots of clothes and toys for you," said Lizzie.

"Let's not overwhelm Chrissy and her mom," said Derek. He could imagine boxes upon boxes of hand me down clothes and toys coming to Meredith's house.

"Maybe when I come I can make some of your favorite foods," said Caroline. "What do you like to eat?"

"I like pizza. And Aunt Izzie makes the best cakes." Derek laughed, remembering Izzie's love of baked good. "I'm sure your Aunt Izzie loves baking for you," said Derek. "I love her cakes, too."

"Yes, and she lets me help. She won't let mommy help, but she says I can learn." Derek laughed again.

"I can teach you to make Daddy's favorites. He loves Italian food, spaghetti with meatballs and lasagna. We'll have a lot of fun," said Caroline.

Nurse Olivia opened the door and brought a dinner tray in. "Mom, Lizzie, Chrissy's dinner is here, so we have to go. It was fun chatting with you, but Chrissy needs to eat." They all said good-bye, and Derek told Olivia that he would feed Chrissy.

At Joe's bar, meanwhile:

"Hi Meredith, it's nice to see you."

"Hi Joe, tequila straight up."

"It's on the house," said Joe. "I'm sure you can use a drink."

"That's for sure," she said with a smile. Christina came in and sat down beside her, ordering another tequila for herself.

"I think Chrissy is going to be a Daddy's girl," Meredith said with a smile. "She can't stop talking about Derek."

"She loves you," said Cristina, "You know that. Derek is new to her, so he is exciting."

"I know she loves me. She's only known him two days, but she loves him, too."

"He's her dad. And you know you're responsible. You always told her great things about her dad. And you hung out with her in Derek's trailer. She was bound to love her dad. And Derek's going to be a great dad. She's lucky to have both of you."

"I think I was selfish, not telling him. I always knew that he'd be a great dad. But with him in NY, I wanted her to myself."

"You did what you thought was best for Chrissy. Dragging a baby back and forth to New York would have been rough. Anyway, I think you just wanted Derek to come back for you, not for Chrissy."

"That was selfish," Meredith said, with a nod, acknowledging the truth of Cristina's statement. "Chrissy deserved a dad."

"She has a dad. And now Derek is divorced. You have a chance again."

"I'm a different person. I'm a mom, a single mom. And I liked being a single mom. I liked having her to myself. I was selfish."

"You had a family to support you. You were never alone. She was always loved. And now Derek's in the mix. You're both parents, with the same child. And the two of you have a chance."

"He came back for Chrissy, not me."

"Well, my money is on the two of you getting back together before New Year's."

Meredith laughed. "So we're again the center of hospital gossip, with another betting pool on us."

"Yup. Sad to say, there's hardly anyone putting money on you two staying apart, so my winnings may be slim. Even the new interns have heard so much about the legend of Meredith and Derek that they're betting on you getting back together."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"And I haven't even seen him yet."

"You're going to see him tomorrow."

"I know. But I'm more worried about what the doctor's going to say than seeing Derek. I just hope that she's in remission."

"You know she's probably going to need at least two more rounds of chemo to be in remission," said Cristina softly. "You've got to be realist about this. The new meds may be working, but they need time."

"I know. But her being in remission is all I care about."

"One way or the other, she's going to be brought into remission. She may need some different drugs or more time, but you have to have hope. We're going to do everything we can."

"Sometimes everything is not enough," said Meredith, as tears started down her cheeks.

"We don't do crying, certainly not when there's still so much hope," said Cristina, as she draped her arm around Meredith.

"I thought we didn't do hugging."

"You're my person, and you need a hug. I think we're making an exception for when Chrissy's sick."

"Okay."

Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Izzie returned to the hospital room. She smiled as she she saw Chrissy sleeping in her father's arms while he was reading a medical journal.

"I guess it's time for me to go," said Derek.

Izzie nodded.

"Please tell Meredith that she has nothing to fear from me. I want what's best for Chrissy. I'm not going to yell at her, at least not until Chrissy is okay."

"I'll let her know."