All of Your Life

Carolyn Shepherd

Meredith stood at the nurse's station, filling out charts, 24 hours into a 48 hour shift. She'd been under the impression it got easier after the intern year but, she was obviously wrong. In the four months she had been back in Seattle this, was her first 48 hour shift so, she couldn't complain. But, she missed Derek and Ava. Knowing that Derek had the day off and was at home with Ava made her feel jealous, she wasn't used to sharing Ava with anyone.

"Excuse me, I am looking for Derek Shepherd," she heard someone ask Nurse Olivia. She peeked at the woman who was older with short, gray hair, remembering her as Derek's mother. Meredith was incredibly tempted to run and hide but, she knew that wasn't gonna happen.

"Dr. Shepherd is off today. He'll be back tomorrow," Meredith answered for Olivia. She knew it wasn't the whole truth seeing as Derek was meeting her for lunch with Ava.

"Mom. What are you doing here?" asked Amy walking up to her and Meredith.

"Amy," Carolyn said to her youngest daughter.

"Dr. Grey, I have the charts you wanted," she said, turning to Meredith.

"Thank you, Dr. Shepherd. When you're finished here, do a pre-op on Mr. Roberts then you can scrub in."

"I thought it was Dr. Shepherd case?"

"It was but it needs to be done today so Der-Dr. Shepherd handed it off to me."

"Yes, Dr. Grey," Amy smiled, watching as Meredith walked away before turning to face her mother. "So, what are you doing here Ma?"

"Maybe I wanted to see you."

"Yeah, not likely. If you want to know where Derek is, you should call him," she snapped, walking away.

"Amy!" Carolyn called out. She stopped slowly, turning back to look at her mother. "What do you say about joining your mother for some lunch?"

"Maybe. I'll let you know."

__________________________________

During the surgery, Meredith had noticed Amy was a little distracted. After the past few weeks of getting to know her, she knew that wasn't normal. She also noticed Derek sitting with Ava on his lap, watching the end of her surgery.

Scrubbing out, Meredith turned to Amy. "You okay?" she asked. "You've been distracted."

"Sorry. My mom asked me to meet her for lunch and... I don't know. Our relationship isn't exactly good."

"Amy, I don't know what happened but she is obviously trying to make amends. And, trust me, the relationship that I had with her mother wasn't easy but I would have loved my mom to reach out to me."

"Your mother is Ellis Grey."

"Yeah, but she was more interested in surgery then remembering that I was her daughter. Go to lunch with her Amy listen to what she has to say."

"But isn't Derek here with Ava to meet you for lunch?"

Meredith nodded. "Looks like Ava will be meeting her grandma sooner then I thought," Meredith told Amy, giving her a smile.

"Are you sure Meredith?"

"I think we both know as soon as I walk into the cafeteria your mom will hear Ava calling Derek and I mommy and daddy and there will me questions. So, I say we get it over with now."

"And you aren't going to ask Derek his opinion?"

"You know how Derek will respond. And, I want to do this before I start freaking out."

"Let's do it," she smiled.

"Well, I need to talk to the family. Go meet Derek by the nurse's station and tell him I'll meet you guys down in the cafeteria after."

"Okay," she said, walking out of the scrub room. It was difficult to switch back and forth between Dr. Grey and Meredith, her brother's girlfriend. She spotted Derek waiting at the nurse's station, holding Ava in his arms. She'd never seen Derek look more content.

"Derek," she said gently.

"Hey, how'd the surgery go?"

"Great. Mer-Dr. Grey is an amazing surgeon. You should know, you trained her," as soon as the words left her lips, she regretted them, noticing the crestfallen look on her brother's face. "Derek, what is it?" She watched Derek as Meredith walked out of the scrub room, giving Derek and Ava a little wave before disappearing down the hallway.

"I barely trained her," he muttered. "Only when she was an intern. Thanks to my own stupidity, she received that training elsewhere."

"Derek, I doubt she will see it that way. You were like her first mentor," Amy assured him. "I'm meeting mom for lunch and I would really love your support on this Derek."

"I'm suppose to meet Meredith..."

"Derek. Please. I'm begging you. I don't want to face her by myself.

He sighed. "Okay. But, if Meredith yells at me, it's your fault."

"Yes Derek," she said, humouring him.

"Aun Am," Ava said holding her arms out to her aunt. Amy reached out to Ava, taking her into her arms. They walked down to the cafeteria, side by side, dreading the lunch. Derek walked off to get food while Amy headed with Ava towards her mother.

"Hey mom," Amy greeted her.

"Hi Amy. So who is this gorgeous little girl?" Carolyn asked her daughter. Looking at the little girl, she saw Amy was a little girl, staring back at her. Amy looked around nervously for Derek, hoping he'd hurry up with the food. She wasn't comfortable answering questions for him.

"I offered to look after her while her mother talks to a patient."

"If you want to get some food, I'll watch her" she offered. Sat down, shook her head and unconsciously tightened her grip on her niece.

"I've got their food," Derek said, walking up behind his mother.

"Well, this is a surprise Derek," she said as he sat down. "A doctor told me you had the day off."

"I do. But, I was bringing Ava to meet her mother for lunch."

"Her mother works here?"

"She does."

"Isn't there a daycare she could go to? Why are you-"

"Stop," Amy interrupted her.

"It's okay, Ames. Pass her here."

"Daddy!" Ava squealed, jumping into her father's arms.

"Daddy?" Carolyn asked, not able to keep the look of surprise of her face. "Derek what's going on?"

"Ma, this is Ava Grey, my daughter."

"Grey?"

"She has her mother's name"

"Why not yours?"

"Ma, it complicated, now Meredith..."

"Oh my god! The intern. Derek what the hell are you doing? You left Addi-"

"Mother. Stop right there," he demanded. "Meredith is in my life and I will not have you calling her names or making rash assumptions about her. She is the one person that actually never lied to me."

"She kept your daughter..."

"I'm not listening to this Ma," he snapped, standing up with Ava hanging on his neck. "Meredith is the love of my life and that's it. If you are going to continue taking your ex-daughter-in-law's side, go have lunch with her instead of your own son. Amy, I'm sorry." With that, he walked away.

"You haven't changed one bit mother," she spat. "You already lost one daughter and a grandchild, do you want to lose Derek too? At this rate, you will." Amy stood up and walked away, determined to find her brother and make sure he was okay.

Carolyn watched as to of her children walked away from her, she knew that she needed to fix this, but she just didn't know how. Oh god Christopher, what have I done?, she thought to herself.