76. Chapter 76

Meredith groaned and burrowed her head against the soft pillow beneath her head and pulled the sheets up to her face, trying to block out the ring tone that was cutting through the otherwise quiet morning air. The ringing stopped and she sighed, inhaling the comforting scent of Derek and herself wafting from the worn sheets. Her mind began to drift and she felt herself falling back to sleep. She and Derek didn't need to be in to the hospital until late morning, and she wanted to take full advantage of the opportunity to sleep in.

The ringing sounded again, and she sighed, fully awake once more. Her cell had rung several times. Obviously whoever was calling her wasn't about to stop trying. With a defeated sigh, she unlatched Derek's arm from around her middle. Still asleep, he moaned his unhappiness in having her leave his embrace and clutched to her.

"Seriously," Meredith muttered, struggling to stay out of his grip. Once she was standing, she shoved her pillow into his arms and smiled as he pulled it close against his chest and fell silent and still once more. Their first swimming lesson the previous day, although not as heart wrenchingly terrifying as expected, had still been stressful on them both. After returning to the trailer, they had shared a shower and spent the afternoon in bed, only leaving for nourishment.

When she had finally fallen asleep the night before – possibly sometime early that morning – Derek had been holding her just as tightly as he had been when the phone ringing had first woken her that morning.

The phone rang again, and Meredith huffed, pulling on her pants and one of Derek's sweatshirts before padding quickly to the small living room and fishing her cell phone out of her purse. The caller ID told her it was her best friend.

"What?" She hissed into the phone.

"Finally! What they hell took you so long. I'm in hell, Meredith. I need you to save me."

"What's going on? And what's that noise?"

"It's the shower."

"You're calling me while you're in the shower?"

"No!" Cristina hissed. "I'm hiding out in the bathroom; the shower is my cover. They're invading my apartment, Meredith. I have nowhere else to go!"

"Who's invading your apartment?" Meredith whispered, glancing towards the bedroom, where Derek was silent and still. This was obviously going to be a long conversation, and she didn't want to wake him. She shoved her feet into her sneakers, grabbed the throw blanket off the small couch and let herself out onto the deck.

"Mother and Mama!" Cristina exclaimed. "Mother and Mama are here, Meredith! What am I supposed to do?"

"Mother and Mama?" Meredith repeated. "I don't understand..."

"My mother and Burke's Mama!"

"Oh, Mama... I got you know. Why are they here?"

"To plan the freaking wedding!"

"I thought you were getting married at city hall?"

"That's what I thought!"

"Okay, Cristina, seriously, you need to stop yelling. I can hear you perfectly fine."

"I'm freaking out, Meredith. I'm freaking out. It's early. And they're here. And there are flowers everywhere. And bridesmaids. They're talking about bridesmaids. I need you. How soon can you come and rescue me?"

Meredith sighed and sat on one of the deck chairs, ensuring the blanket was wrapped around her, protecting her from the cold of the morning. "Cristina I'm at the trailer. I can't just rush back into town."

"Why not?"

"You woke me up. Derek is still asleep. There's just no way. Plus, what exactly do you expect me to do? Break you out of your bathroom? You'll have to face them at some point."

"I hate you."

"You just hate me for being rational."

"I don't know what to do."

"Well, for starters, pretending to be in the shower only works for so long. Eventually they're going to know you're hiding. In fact, they probably already do."

"I still hate you."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Turn the shower off and face them, Cristina."

"It's not fair. Why don't you have to go through this too?"

"Well, for starters, my mother is dead. And Derek's mother in hundred of miles away."

"I thought Burke's mother was hundreds of miles away! Why is she here?"

"Because she's Burke's mother. Did you think you'd never have to see her again?"

"I hoped I wouldn't. The woman scares me, Meredith."

"Well, it's time to face your fears."

"I can't go out there. Did I mention the flowers? They're everywhere. There's no surface area left in the kitchen."

"Flowers aren't that bad," Meredith pointed out. "They're pretty and they smell nice. And they don't live very long, so you don't have to have them for much longer."

"You're not getting the point."

"You're right. I'm not."

"I don't do mothers and flowers and bridesmaids and dresses. I agreed to city hall. City hall! Why is this happening?"

"Have you tried talking to Burke?"

"Of course not! He's enjoying this. They're torturing me, and he's enjoying it."

"You need to talk to Burke."

"I can't. They're hovering; like lions going in for the kill. I'm as good as dead, Meredith."

"Okay, overdramatic much? Seriously. You're a grown up, Cristina. You're a surgeon. You can face your mother and your soon-to-be mother in law. And tell Burke how you feel."

"I hate you."

"If you really hated me, you would have hung up the first time you said it."

"Will you page me?"

"What?"

"Wait a few minutes, and then page me so I can escape?"

"Cristina..."

"Please," she begged; something so out of character it threw Meredith off. "I can't deal with this, just not now. Not like this. Not when they corner me first thing in the morning in Burke's apartment. Let me be at the hospital."

She huffed. "Fine. How long?"

"Five minutes." And she hung up.

Meredith rolled her eyes as she ended the call on her side. "A thank-you would be nice, but whatever..."

"Talking to yourself again, Dr. Grey?"

She jumped slightly and snapped her neck to the side to meet Derek's amused gaze. The door to the trailer was open and he was leaning against the opening, smirking at having caught her again. She hadn't even heard the door open.

"Shut up. I was talking to Cristina."

He sidled towards her and leaned down for a kiss.

She smiled as she kissed him back, happy that he had already brushed his teeth.

"What's up with Cristina?" He asked, sandwiching himself between her and the arm of the chair.

Meredith manoeuvred so that she was sitting half beside him and half on him. "She's freaking out. Her mother and Burke's mother showed up this morning. She was hiding in the bathroom pretending to be having a shower."

"Mmm," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her. "Why?"

"Because she's Cristina. And her mother and Burke's mother are combining to help plan the wedding." She snorted. "They actually have her cowering in the bathroom."

"I didn't think Cristina cowered from anything."

"She doesn't do weddings. They were going to just go to city hall, but I guess now there's going to be an actual ceremony or whatever. She doesn't know how to deal. I promised to page her, to get her out of this morning."

He chuckled and pressed a soft kiss against the side of her neck. "I think that's cheating."

She made a face. "How is it cheating? It's not a game."

"Do you two do this often?"

"Well, Cristina was supposed to page me when we went to dinner at Susan and Thatcher's, but she forgot."

"I remember. You should get her back."

"Hmm, I should get her back," Meredith contemplated, rolling her phone in her fingers.

Derek chuckled and pressed his lips to her cheek. "Evil. I like it."

She giggled and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Maybe I'll just wait an extra five minutes. Make her sweat."

He smirked. "Make it ten."

**

"Some maid on honour you are," Cristina hissed as she collapsed against the counter of the Nurses' Station beside Meredith. "I waited for hours for you to page me."

"It was like fifteen minutes."

"Whatever. I waited."

"I wanted to make it look more natural. Who gets paged right after getting out of a fake shower?"

"The desperate kind!"

"This isn't as bad as you- wait. Maid of honour?"

"Yes. You're my maid of honour. I need you."

"Do I even get a choice in this?"

"No."

Meredith made a choice. "I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to get a choice."

"I don't get a choice in being the bride, so you don't get a choice in being my maid of honour."

"Fine. But I'm not wearing a dress."

"Yes, you are. And," Cristina continued before Meredith could cut in, "that's not by my choice. That's Mama's choice."

Meredith grumbled and shook her head. "I hate Mama..."

"Thanks for finally coming over to my side."

They were cut off when Izzy came bouncing over to the counter beside them. "When are we leaving?"

"We're not going anywhere unless they drag me kicking and screaming."

"Where are we going?" Meredith questioned.

"Dress shopping!" Izzy exclaimed. "This afternoon we get to go dress shopping!"

"Not if mother and mama can't find us."

"Wait, now we have to go dress shopping?" Meredith complained.

"Come on Cristina," Izzy prompted, ignoring Meredith. "Where's your wedding spirit."

"Iz, I think you have enough for all three of us," Meredith commented.

Izzy nodded. "I even switched my hours at the clinic so I could go dress shopping all afternoon. Yay!"

Meredith and Cristina made matching faces of disgust.

"She just cheered," Cristina whined, turning to Meredith.

"You're really not being bride-y."

"I am not a bride. I am a surgeon."

"Don't bug her," Meredith warned. "I already had to talk her out of her hiding spot in the bathroom this morning."

"Why were you hiding in the bathroom?"

"Because I don't do weddings."

"You're really not excited? I'm excited. I love weddings. Weddings are all about hope and the future and-"

"Okay," Callie's voice cut them off, causing all three women to turn. "I rescheduled an ACL repair, but I want to be clear; I will not be wearing pink or baby blue, I do not do flowers in my hair and I will never be seen with a bow on my ass."

Cristina nodded and turned to Meredith. "See, she's got the right attitude."

"I take it you're a bridesmaid too?" Meredith asked.

Callie furrowed her brow. "She didn't tell you?"

Meredith shrugged. "I didn't even know I was a bridesmaid until two minutes ago."

"Yeah, join the club."

Meredith laughed, but stopped quickly when she spotted Thatcher walk by the far side of the Nurses' Station. "Hey," she called, leaving her friends.

"Hey," he responded. "I'm here with Susan. She's down in the clinic."

"The clinic? Is everything okay?"

He nodded as they walked together down the hall. "She's okay; I think. She has the hiccups. Acid reflux. She's barely slept in two days because the hiccups are keeping her awake. She, uh, she sent me to find you."

It was her turn to nod. "I want to see her."

They arrived at the elevators just in time to board an empty car. Meredith punched the button for the ground floor, and silence fell between them as the doors closed. She glanced at him just in time to catch him doing the same thing, and they both looked away quickly.

"Susan, uh, told me that you were...engaged?" Thatched eventually stuttered.

Not sure if it was a question or a statement, Meredith nodded. "Yes."

"To the boy...man," he corrected, "That you brought to dinner?"

Again, she wasn't sure if it was a question or statement. "Derek," she supplied, glancing up to see what floor they were on. She had never realized how slow the elevators were.

"That's...good. I, uh, I'm happy for you, Meredith."

She forced herself to meet his eyes. "Thank you."

He offered her a small smile that was full of awkwardness and hesitation. "He seemed like a good man."

"He is."

The elevator dinged to announce their arrival on the ground floor. The doors opened and Meredith hurried out, feeling like she could breathe again. This whole talking to a parent about something personal wasn't exactly an activity she had a lot of practice in. Her mother had always attacked her on the issue, and Susan was much more of a friend than parental figure at the moment, leaving her with no idea of what to expect from Thatcher.

"She's right down here," Thatcher said, pointing in the direction of the clinic.

Meredith fought the urge to remind him that she worked here, and obviously knew where the clinic was.

When they arrived in the clinic, Meredith spotted Susan sitting on a gurney by the far wall, Dr. Bailey hovering nearby with a chart.

"Hey," Meredith greeted, leaning in for a – only semi-awkward – half-hug. "Thatcher said you have the hiccups."

Susan smiled, before hiccupping. "I couldn't sleep."

Meredith pulled her stethoscope off of her neck and quickly pressed it to Susan's chest. "You could have called."

"It's such a silly problem." She made a face. "Hiccups."

"We didn't want to bother you," Thatcher added.

Meredith offered a supportive smile to Susan, still not sure what to say to Thatcher. It was, however, easier to be around him now that Susan was there as well. Strange. "It's not silly if you can't sleep."

"Chlorpromazine is good," Bailey stated, referring to the drug she had administered to help with the hiccups. The drug that had helped initially, but was quickly wearing off. "But it doesn't always work long term. We have had some good results with endoscopic gastriplication."

Susan and Thatcher looked to Meredith for an explanation.

"We put a tube down your throat and sew together the bottom of your oesophagus to protect it from the acid your stomach," she recited easily.

"It would be an out patient procedure," Bailey added.

"I'm sold," Susan said without hesitation. "Ready when you are."

Thatcher looked worried. "You're sure that's not a little..." He trailed off, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder.

Susan patted the hand supportively. "Just think of it as breathing into a very expensive brown paper bag."

He still looked worried, but nodded.

Meredith smiled at Susan, as the woman continued to hiccup.

"How soon can we do this?" Susan asked.

Bailey offered her a smile as well. "It's quiet. We can probably schedule it today." She turned to Meredith. "Grey, are you good on this?"

As she was nodding, Susan cut her off.

"Actually, Dr. Bailey, I was hoping Meredith could wait with Thatcher." She patted his hand again. "I don't want him waiting by himself. He'll worry. That's okay, right Meredith?" She asked, smiling hopefully at her step-daughter.

"Yes," Meredith said cautiously, her eyes flickering to Thatcher and back to Susan. She couldn't say no to Susan on a normal day; there was no chance she would be able to say no when the woman was about to have surgery, regardless of how minor it was.

Susan smiled broadly. "Great."

"How about I put O'Malley on the case?" Bailey asked, looking to Meredith.

She nodded. "Sounds good."

"O'Malley," Susan repeated. "The name sounds familiar. Have I met him?"

"I don't think so..." Meredith trailed off, before shaking her head. Susan had met Alex and Izzy during her early morning grocery deliveries, maybe even Cristina, but she couldn't remember her meeting George. "He was my roommate until he got married a little while ago."

"You guys are all getting married," Susan commented. "There's just so much going on in your young lives." She turned to Bailey. "They're all your interns, right? You must be so proud."

Bailey huffed. "Yes, proud is one of the many emotions I feel about my interns." She gave Meredith a look. "I'm going to go book an OR."

**

Staring at Thatcher's worried expression, Meredith leaned forward and bit her lip. She was sitting kitty corner to him in the lobby waiting room, waiting for Susan to be out of surgery.

They had been waiting for half an hour.

A very long and silent half hour. Thatcher had been staring upwards at a far corner of the ceiling, and Meredith had been staring at the floor.

She sighed and forced herself to say something. "You know there's not thing to worry about."

He shook his head. "What I worry about is...Molly, living in a new city, alone with a baby most of the day." Molly's husband had recently returned from his deployment in Iraq and Molly had moved to be with him at his new station. "That's hard," he continued. "And Lexie...she's about to start her residency. She's a really good student, but it's gruelling."

"I know," Meredith responded. She couldn't convince herself it didn't hurt to have him talk about his two new daughters right in front of her like this, but she was trying. He seemed to be trying. They were trying. Communication was hard, but they were trying.

"Right." He laughed and quickly avoided her eyes. "And I worry about you...too."

This caught Meredith off guard. And a small sliver of hope, that she had buried deep inside herself began to burn once again.

"I worry about how you're getting on...your mom... None of that was simple." He finally met her eyes again.

It wasn't a heartfelt conversation, but it was something.

Unsure of what to say, Meredith said the first thing that came to her mind. "Susan's really on you to talk to me, huh?"

He laughed again, and she knew she had nailed it right now. Though he didn't appear like he was being forced against his will to be talking with her. He almost looked like he...wanted to be talking with her.

"I have to admit I'm envious...that she's getting to know you...and I'm not...yet," she added quietly, avoiding her eyes again. "I think she may be faking these hiccups."

"To get us in the same place?"

He nodded, and they both laughed.

"That sounds like something Susan would do."

He nodded. "You really seem to...be getting to know her, too."

"I like her," Meredith added cautiously.

"That's good. It's...good," he stammered, his gaze wavering nervously as he tried to keep contact with her eyes. "She wants to be a part of your life...we want to be a part of your life."

Meredith felt her jaw tighten. She didn't know how to respond.

"I...I've wanted to get to know you too. I just...after everything...I don't know how."

"I don't either," she offered quietly.

He nodded, but said nothing.

"But I didn't know with Susan either," she added. He had said a lot. She could do this.

He cleared his throat. "Maybe...in a week or two...when Susan's feeling up to it...we can try to have dinner again? You and...Derek can come over. Or we could go out?"

Meredith smiled. "Susan will be very proud."

He laughed. "She will be."

"The next few weeks aren't good," Meredith stated.

"Oh, well that's...okay."

"I'm going away," Meredith said quickly. "I have my intern exam in less than a week. And then my best friend is getting married. And then Derek and I are going away for two weeks." She paused. "So, maybe the week I come back?"

Thatched nodded. "That...sounds nice. Susan will be happy." He paused, as if hesitating. "Where are you going?"

"We're going to New York, to see his family, and then south to have an actual vacation before we're owned by the hospital again."

"That...sounds like quite the trip. Are you...close with his family?"

She shook her head. "I've never met them. I've talked to his mother on the phone once...well, twice...sort of... It's a long story. And I've met one of his sisters. But there's like a billion other family members left."

"How many sisters does he have?"

"Four. Three of them are married. They all have kids."

"Are you talking about me again?" Derek's voice sounded, as he walked around the chairs, a tray in his hands.

She smiled at him. "I was telling...Thatcher about our trip."

Derek smiled at her, before nodding a greeting to the older man. "Thatcher. Nice to see you."

Thatched nodded awkwardly. "You too...Derek."

"I brought you guys some coffee," Derek stated pulling a large cup out of the tray in his hands and handing it to Meredith. "Thatcher, I didn't know what you took in your coffee, so I brought cream and sugar." He passed Thatcher a cup and held out the tray so that Thatched could pick the amount of cream and sugar he wanted.

"Thank you."

Once the tray was empty, Derek say in the empty seat next to Meredith. "I poked my head in before I came down here. Bailey said everything was going well. They should be done soon."

"Good." Meredith responded.

Thatcher nodded, looking relieved.

The three sat in awkward silence for several moments before Thatcher spoke up.

"Derek, I...uh...wanted to say...congratulations." He nodded his head to Meredith and Derek. "I heard the good news."

Derek smiled back and wrapped his arm around his fiancée. "Thank you, Thatcher," he replied with a smile, before kissing Meredith's temple.

Meredith smiled, surprised by the expression on Thatcher's face. He looked happy for her. Maybe even...proud.

Maybe this family thing wasn't so bad after all.