"I'm not going!" shouted Chrissy as she cried. "I'm staying home."
Meredith and Derek stared at her, puzzled about how to proceed. They were shocked to see their daughter in the middle of a temper tantrum. Derek hadn't known Chrissy long, but she had never had a temper tantrum in all that time. And being the fun uncle, he hadn't had any experience with temper tantrums from his nieces and nephews.
As for Meredith, Chrissy had always been an easy baby. She had slept through the night at six weeks. She had pretty much potty-trained herself at eighteen months after watching other girls in day care use the potty. Although maybe her guilt over working over 80 hours a week many weeks had led Meredith to give in to Chrissy much of the time, so she had no reason for temper tantrums. Or maybe because she was only available a limited amount of time Chrissy didn't want to challenge her. Or maybe Chrissy was just a really easy baby. Chrissy had never before had a full-fledged temper tantrum. Chrissy hadn't really complained during the more than two months of hospitalization. But then her hospitalization coincided with meeting her father and her grandmother, two people who have devoted every minute of their time with her to entertaining her and caring for her.
"Chrissy, we have to go to the hospital for a check-up. Please put on your shoes. It's time to go." Meredith said calmly.
"Not going. Wanna stay home with Daddy and Grandma." She started throwing dollhouse pieces around the living room.
"Stop throwing things, Chrissy. Daddy and Grandma are coming to the hospital with you and Mommy," advised Derek.
"No. Stay here and play!"
"While we're gone, Aunt Izzie is going to get pretty dresses for us to try on. When we get back from the hospital, we will have fun trying on dresses."
"I feel better. Wanna stay home, no hospital. I'm not going." Chrissy became hysterical while her parents looked at each other, trying to figure out how to respond.
"Christine Grey Shepherd," Carolyn said with a voice of steel as she emerged from the kitchen. "You are a big girl. You need to go to the hospital for a check-up, so we're all going to go. Put your shoes on, and let's get going."
Meredith and Derek stared at Carolyn as Chrissy stopped crying and put on her shoes.
"How did you do that?" asked Meredith.
"I've had more than fifty years of experience as a mother and grandmother. You need to be firm and in control. Don't tolerate any nonsense or they'll run roughshod over you."
"Thanks for the lesson, Mom. Let's all get in the car."
Later, after the tests were taken, they began to wait for the results. Carolyn turned to Derek and suggested, "How about I take Chrissy across the street to the apartment. We can play there while you wait for the results and meet with the doctor."
"That's a great idea."
"Chrissy, do you want to see Daddy's apartment? He has a special room for you."
"Yes, let's go," Chrissy said with a smile.
Meredith and Derek sat in the waiting room, reading back issues of the New England Journal of Medicine while they waited for the test results. Two hours later, Dr. Blakely came to get them, and they went to his office for the results. The doctor immediately went straight to business. "The results are good. She's done phenomenally well at home. She's gained more than six pounds, and she's still in remission. I'd like to start by having her come in to the hospital next Wednesday to begin conditioning for the tranpslant."
"That's so soon," murmured Meredith.
"The conditioning will last a week, and then we'll do the transplant. We're going to need Derek to come in Tuesday night of the following week to prepare for his donation on Wednesday. We're going to want some fresh bone marrow in case there's a problem with the frozen donation. We expect that she'll then stay in the hospital for four to six additional weeks. During this time, only her parents will be able to visit with her. Then she can go home and stay in a protected environment for at least six months. She'll come back each month for a check-up. Then, we'll see how she's doing on rebuilding her immunity and she may be able to go into public on occasion. My hope is that she will be able to start kindergarten with her friends, in another year. Any questions?"
"Will we be able to work after she is discharged?" asked Meredith.
"Sure. You can have a babysitter stay with her as long as the babysitter follows infection control procedures."
"I think my mom is planning on staying to help," volunteered Derek.
"That's wonderful. You are very lucky to have such great family support."
Meredith bit her tongue. She wanted to say that if she were lucky, her daughter wouldn't have leukemia. But she didn't want to be sassy with her daughter's doctor who was doing his best to help her.
"Derek and I were planning on getting married on Sunday."
"Congratulations."
"We're keeping the wedding small. We'd been hoping that she'd go into the hospital a week from Monday, so we'd have most of the week together."
"I know the transplant is scary, but we've had great success. To be honest, I want to start as soon as possible because every day we defer the surgery there's a risk she can relapse. And her leukemia is very resistant to treatment. I don't want to take a chance."
"So you see a big difference between Wednesday and the following Monday?" asked Derek.
"I see a difference. How big I can't say, but if she were my child, I'd go ahead on Wednesday. I've been very successful because I'm very aggressive. But you should go ahead and get married. I'm sure Chrissy is excited about that."
"Yes, she is. She's going to be our flower girl. She threw a temper tantrum this morning because she didn't want to go back to the hospital."
"That's not surprising, Derek. Being home is a lot more fun than being in the hospital. And she was really sick most of the time that she was here; the chemo made her sick. She's on a mild dose now, so she must feel much better. And she's going to be very sick with the bone marrow transplant. But the end result is that she'll have a chance to live. You might want to think of some special treats she might enjoy, such as new dvds and books."
"Should we tell her now or wait til Tuesday or Wednesday?" asked Meredith.
"Now is better. You have a wedding to distract her. She'll have time to get used to going back to the hospital. I know it's hard, but I think that Wednesday is the optimum time to start the conditioning."
"We'll do whatever you recommend," said Derek.
"Good. Any other questions?
"No. Thank you very much."
"Good. I'll see you on Wednesday. Bring her in at 8 a.m."
"Okay, we'll see you then."
When they left the doctor's office, Meredith headed straight for an on-call room and immediately began to sob. Derek followed after her and sat down beside her. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her.
"Meredith, it's going to be fine."
"You don't know that."
"We need to have faith. We need for Chrissy to believe everything will be fine."
"She's a smart little girl."
"She trusts us. So we have to be confident that this is going to work. She has to believe this will work."
"Well, this wedding is getting in the way of spending every minute with her."
"You're not kidding," Derek immediately reacted, forgetting he hadn't shared his mother's plans with Meredith.
"What you do you mean, Derek?"
"My mom says I can't sleep at the house on Saturday night, and I shouldn't come over til the wedding because I shouldn't see the bride before the wedding."
Meredith dissolved into laughter.
Derek was puzzled. "What are you laughing?"
"Your mother is being silly. She knows we're not virgins; after all, we have a child together."
"She told me she knows we're not virgins. And I don't like talking about my sex life – our sex life – with my mom. And she is paying for our wedding night at the Archfield. She says we need to spend our first night of marriage together."
"What about Chrissy?"
"Well, she goes to bed at 8 p.m., so we won't miss much time with her on Sunday, and Mom wants us to wait until 1 p.m. to come on Monday. She wants us to have a romantic morning; she's paying for room service. She also wants some time with Chrissy."
"Well, she's not going to be allowed to see her for at least a month. I know she's been a great help, and she loves Chrissy. But I want to come home by noon so we can have lunch with Chrissy."
"That's a great plan."
"And you can come to the house on Sunday. I'll stay upstairs, so you won't see me til the wedding, but Chrissy can go back and forth between downstairs and upstairs."
"Thanks. My mom thinks she'll spend all her time being beautified."
"Don't worry. Izzie's going to want to spend some time with me, and it will be boring for Chrissy, so she'll want to play with you."
"We'll see," Derek smiled. "She might enjoy helping Izzy. Not that you need any beautification. You're gorgeous without any of that stuff."
"And you're very cheesy," murmured Meredith as she started to kiss Derek.
"More kissing, that's what I say."
Meredith looked into his eyes and smiled. "Speaking of our wedding night, I haven't had a chance to set an appointment with my ob/gyn."
"So?"
"I wasn't able to get a prescription for the pill or an i.u.d."
"That's okay. We can take our chances," Derek said with a smile. "I've told you I think another baby is a good idea."
"But you were suggesting ivf with genetic testing to secure another marrow donor for Chrissy."
"The natural way could work," he smirked.
"I was thinking we have enough on our plate with Chrissy sick."
"My sister Kathleen would say that if you really wanted to avoid another baby, you'd have made time for the ob-gyn appointment."
"Derek . . ."
"Look, we have one gorgeous, smart, sweet, kind, funny little girl. We obviously make wonderful babies. And just because we were lucky once doesn't mean you'll get pregnant." Derek went to kiss her.
"I'll think about it. I'll also consider buying a box of condoms myself." Meredith smirked. "Anyway, we should probably go get Chrissy and your mom and head home. I got a text from Izzie saying that she'd be back in half an hour with a bunch of dresses. And you're going to have to go out because you're not allowed to see me in my dress before the wedding."
"Who made these rules?"
"I don't know, but Carolyn Shepard is big on enforcing these rules."
"We should have snuck off to city hall."
"But Chrissy can't go to city hall. This wedding will be wonderful. The fact that dark and twisty Meredith Grey is getting married is pretty amazing."
"You're being dark and twisty is not a flaw, it's a strength. You get us all to move forward, and we need that with Chrissy being sick. And I'm thrilled that you want to marry me. Now you need to wash your face, so we can go see Chrissy. You don't want her to know you've been crying."
"I know." Meredith got up and went to the restroom and washed her face. Then she joined Derek, and they walked across the street to his apartment. As soon as they opened the door, Chrissy came running.
"Mommy, daddy, what did the doctor say?"
Meredith smiled. "Let's sit down on the sofa." They sat down on the sofa, with Chrissy on Meredith's lap and Derek beside her. Carolyn sat on the club chair next to the sofa. She was obviously eager to hear the results as well. "We got good news. You've been doing great, and you've gained six pounds, thanks to Grandma's great cooking."
"Grandma is the best cook although Aunt Izzie is great at baking. Poor Mommy can't cook. I'm going to be a great cook because Grandma said she would teach me."
"I'll teach Mommy, too," offered Carolyn.
"Aunt Izzie says Mommy is hopeless."
Meredith laughed. "I think Aunt Izzie is right. We're getting spoiled with Grandma doing so much good cooking."
"Don't worry. I've taught Derek a lot. He's actually a pretty good cook, so you'll be fine."
"Mom, I'm nowhere near as good as you."
"You're too modest, Derek."
Meredith laughed. "That's the first time I've heard anyone say you were modest."
"Mommy, did the doctor say I'm all better?"
"No, Chrissy, you're not all better. Your leukemia is in remission, which means it is in hiding. You feel much better, but it can come back at any time. That's why Dr. Barkley wants to the bone marrow transplant. You are going to go to the hospital on Wednesday morning to start preparing for the bone marrow transplant."
"I'm getting Daddy's marrow?"
"Yes, that's right. Daddy's marrow is a good match, so you'll get his marrow."
"And then I get to go home?"
"No, sweetie. The bone marrow is what protects you from getting sick, so you need to say in the hospital until Daddy's marrow is working really well. So you will probably be in the hospital four to six weeks. And Mommy and Daddy will be there with you."
"What about Grandma? And Grandma Susan?"
Meredith held Chrissy close to her with a big hug. "They're going to visit you by skype or Facetime on your ipad. You're going to be in what's called isolation to protect you from getting sick."
"But Grandma was a nurse. Why can't she be my nurse?"
"She'll be your nurse when you get out of the hospital. But when you're in the hospital only Mommy, Daddy, and your doctors and nurses will be able to see you."
"What about Aunt Izzie and Uncle Alex and Uncle George and Aunt Cris?"
"If they're not treating you, they won't be able to see you. But they can see you by skype or facetime, and Mommy and Daddy will be able to visit."
"Will you be working?"
"No, I going to be on leave so I can spend time with you. Daddy and I both will be on leave, so one of us should be with you almost all the time."
"Almost?"
"Well, I might have to leave you to go the bathroom while Daddy is sleeping. But we will be with you as much as possible. We love you. And now it's time to go back to the house to try on dresses with Izzie."
"I like my room here. Can I stay here sometime?"
"How about Tuesday night? We have to be at the hospital early, so we can stay here. It's just a short walk to the hospital."
"Tuesday is good," replied Chrissy. Meredith gave her a big hug.
Later that night, after Chrissy went to bed, Derek turned to Carolyn. "Since you'll be communicating with Chrissy by skype, you can go home during the bone marrow transplant. I'm sure my nieces and nephews have been missing you. And if you're going to be here for six months after she's discharged from the hospital, you may need to spend some time at home preparing."
"If Chrissy's doing okay after the first week after the transplant, I'll go home for a month. Meanwhile, I'll fill both freezers with some good home-cooked food. You need to keep up your strength while Chrissy is in the hospital."
Note: I'm not a medical professional, so, although I've done some research for this story, the medicine is fictional. And Grey's belongs to Shonda. This story is just for fun.