Meredith stared at Derek as he read Curious George to Chrissy. Cristina had been so right when she nicknamed him McDreamy. He had only learned he had a daughter on Monday, he had donated his bone marrow on Thursday, and now he had spent most of the day by Chrissy's bedside, comforting her, helping clean up every time she threw up, and entertaining her. He was totally invested in being Chrissy's dad. And it felt good to have Chrissy's dad here. Maybe too good. She needed to focus on Chrissy and think of Derek as a friend and co-parent, nothing more, she said to herself as she watched him finish the story and kiss Chrissy on her forehead. But it was hard. She couldn't help thinking back to the two magical months before Addison had arrived in Seattle. She had been so happy with him then. And now he wasn't married. And he was planning on spending three months in Seattle. But, she told herself, she needed to focus on Chrissy. Chrissy certainly didn't need any drama between her parents in her life right now.

"Mommy, please sing a bedtime song," begged Chrissy.

"Chrissy, I sing only to you," said Meredith with a smile.

"Do you want me to leave?" asked Derek.

Meredith was abashed. She didn't want to force him to leave. But she wasn't eager for him to hear her singing; Chrissy was the only one who had ever enjoyed her singing. "No, no, you don't have to do that. I'll sing for her if she wants." Meredith then began to sing "The seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake."

Derek smiled, recognizing "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid. His nieces loved that movie. Meanwhile, Meredith kept her eyes on Chrissy, and, when she finished, she gave her a hug and a kiss. "Time for bed, sweetie."

"You did a nice job singing. Maybe next time you'll let me join you," Derek said, his eyes meeting hers, seeking approval. "I'm a big fan of The Little Mermaid."

"Me, too, Daddy. I love Ariel."

"Sure, you can sing with me anytime you want." Meredith didn't see any alternative. She had to be kind to Derek in front of Chrissy.

"Great. That's settled, Chrissy. Tomorrow night we'll both be singing," Derek said with a big smile. "But now it's time for bed. Good night, honey pie."

"Good night, Mommy, Good night Daddy, I love you both," she said, and she turned on her side and closed her eyes. Meredith and Derek watched silently for about half an hour while she slept, mostly watching Chrissy, but from time to time each would look at the other, and, if they were caught in the act, they would look away, and pretend that the looking had never happened. After half an hour, Meredith turned to Derek, and said, "She'll probably sleep through the night now. With your mom coming, I'm sure you have a lot to do. You can go now."

"Do you go ever go home?" asked Derek.

"No, I haven't been home since she got sick. But you don't have to do what I do. It's probably healthier to leave and sleep elsewhere," she admitted.

"You don't want to get sick . . ."

"Derek, this room is a negativity-free space. If you want to argue with me or criticize me, you'll have to wait for someone to watch Chrissy. And Cristina, Alex, George, and Izzy are all working at getting my house in shape for your mother to stay."

"You didn't need to do that. And I can get a nurse."

"No. I want someone who loves her to stay with her, not just anyone."

"You are stubborn."

"I would have thought you knew that about me," Meredith said with a smile.

"I remember you being very bossy. Now I'll add stubborn to the list. Adorable is on the list, too. What about Bailey?"

"Sure."

Derek left the room and went to look for Bailey. He saw that she was in surgery for another hour. He went back to the room and asked Meredith, "What about Richard?"

"If he says yes, that would be okay," said Meredith. Richard was like a grandfather to Chrissy. He had very helpful. He had given her an indefinite leave and arranged for all the copayments to be waived, but he had never sat with Chrissy. But then again, she'd never asked him because she had never needed him before. She had a surfeit of volunteers asking to sit with Chrissy.

"Great," said Derek. He walked quickly to the chief's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in," said Richard.

"Hi Richard, are you busy?"

"I'm chief of a major teaching hospital, I'm always busy. How are you doing?"

"I'm okay."

"Really? A week ago you were working as chief of surgery at Mount Sinai and had no idea you had a daughter. And now you have a very sick little girl."

"I'm thrilled to be Chrissy's dad. I wish she was well. But we have a lot of hope."

Richard thought that Derek had been lucky to have been spared the past six weeks, with the constant bad news until Derek had been found a match. By the time Derek left for Seattle, he had known that he was a match and there was real hope for Chrissy. "Your bone marrow donation is what gives us hope, and I'm delighted you came. Now what is it you want me to do for you?"

Derek sat down. "There are two things I need. First, I've arranged to go on family and medical leave for the next three months, but I have a dozen surgeries that I'm committed to doing first. Four patients are from the West Coast, so I thought I could do the surgery here, if you are agreeable."

"Would they be our patients or would we need to work something out with Mount Sinai?"

"I'll talk to the board chairman and see if we can make it simple and just have them be patients here."

"That would be best. But please let me know if it's a problem. I'm sure we'll be able to work something out. Second thing?"

"I'd like to talk to Meredith now, but we need to have someone watch Chrissy for about 15 minutes. She is pretty strict about leaving her only with family members and friends. Bailey's in surgery, and her friends are all cleaning her house so my mom can stay there for a bit. My mom is coming tomorrow. Chrissy's sleeping now, so you could do some work while you were there."

"I'd be honored. I'll just grab these papers and go with you. Have you had dinner?"

"We had a bite a Joe's."

"Well, take her to the cafeteria and see she has something else to eat. She's barely eaten in the last six weeks. You can have half an hour."

"Thanks." The two men walked over to Chrissy's room. Meredith looked up when they entered. "Thanks, Richard. She's sleeping. You can page me if she wakes up."

"That's fine." Richard sat down in the chair Derek had vacated. He was glad to see that Chrissy was sleeping peacefully.

"Richard said we could have half an hour, and that I should make sure you have something to eat. Do you want to grab a bite in the cafeteria?"

"Sure." Meredith got up and went to the cafeteria with Derek. She grabbed some fries and some cookies as well as water, and Derek grabbed a fruit salad. They were silent until they sat down.

"I thought it would be good for us to talk for a few minutes."

"We spoke earlier today, Derek."

"I know, Mer, but we're going to have to do a lot of talking. Parents talk all the time. There's a lot to discuss."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I'm concerned about you."

"You're concerned about me? Seriously?" She looked at him angrily. If he had been concerned about her, he would have come back to Seattle long ago. Or at least called to check up on her.

"Yes. Look, I know that I hurt you badly, going back to NY with Addison after the prom. But you're Chrissy's mom, the most important person in her life, and your health is important."

"I'm fine."

"Meredith, I bet you've lost at least fifteen pounds . . ."

"So," she interrupted, "most women are happy to lose fifteen pounds."

"You didn't need to lose any weight at all, and now you look too thin. And you have big bags under your eyes. You seem run down. And Chrissy can't afford for you to get sick. So I think I should stay with Chrissy overnight tomorrow, and you can stay with Cristina. I'd like to spend the time with her because I'm going to be in New York for most of the week. I'm not asking you to go home. But Cristina lives just across the street from the hospital, and you can get back here in less than 5 minutes if you're needed. I think you need a good night's sleep in a real bed. And I've already talked to Cristina. She's fine with you staying over."

"I'll think about it."

"Okay. And tomorrow morning I'm going to work on renting an apartment nearby. I also want to be close to the hospital for Chrissy, and I can get a two bedroom, so my mom can stay there. It will be easy for her to get to the hospital, and then you can go home to sleep on occasion if you want. Plus, the doctor said Chrissy should be able to go home for a month. You'll want to live at home then, and I think it's better for me to stay close to the hospital rather than in the trailer. I'm also going to get a new car for my mom to drive. My mom should be arriving around 2:00 p.m., and I will be here by then."

"Okay. Can I go back to Chrissy now?"

"Finish your snack. Richard's happy to stay with her."

"Okay."

"Look, I know this is going to be hard for you. But now Chrissy has a second parent, so you can share everything with me."

"I've had great support from my friends. They've been there for me since I told them I was pregnant."

"I know, but I want to be here for you as well as for Chrissy."

Meredith looked into his blue eyes briefly and turned away. "Thanks. Just remember that my focus now is on Chrissy. I don't have the energy for anything else right now."

"That's fine," he said with a smile.