MerDer in Boston

New York

"Oh for god's sake, Nancy, get over it! I gotta go." Lizzie, who was waiting for them outside the airport, tried to repress the excitement for having her brother's family there, because she had already experienced Meredith's reactions to her pushy manners.

"Who is the cutest niece ever?" She, instead, poured all her excitement in welcoming Zola, who was quite pleased by all that attention.

During the ride towards the Shepherd matriarch's house, Meredith tried to be as cheerful as Liz was, but she was feeling a big hole growing in her stomach, that wanted her to run the other way as fast as she could. When Derek's sister had come to Seattle to donate him some nerves for his hand surgery, Meredith eventually got along with her, but it was just for a couple of days. Here she was planning to start considering her and the other Shepherds as family. This thought was really troubling her.

When Derek caught her eye, she tried to smile and repeat in her mind that family was important.

The big hole in her stomach started shrinking only when, once arrived at the warm and comfortable house of Derek's mom, Liz's older daughter, Diane, started playing with Zola. She was having the time of her life.

***

"We're all set in Boston. We have a house, Meredith is gonna start working next week and I am too the week after." Derek was telling his mother their new plans over dinner that night. Liz and her kids had left -to Zola's disappointment- and the other Shepherds didn't show up that day. Meredith suspected that Derek had instructed them not to suffocate her with too much family time. Zola, in the meantime, was enjoying herself, drawing with colorful crayons.

"Do you have news from Amelia?" Mama Shepherd had waited for the right moment to ask a question, that clearly troubled her.

"Don't worry for her. The last time I saw her, she came to me with this almost impossible case and she found a way to save a life. She always gets in trouble, but she's always strong enough to stand back up. Addison is keeping an eye on her."

Meredith and Derek then exchanged a look, and silently agreed not to tell anything else about Amy. Hers was not their story to tell.

***

"Zo-zo, look at the duckies in the pond!" After spending the previous whole day with the Shepherds -all of them, except for Amy-, Meredith and Derek decided to take a day just for themselves.

The sky was clear and there was no wind. Around them, Central Park was blooming. Derek was pushing the stroller, from where Zola kept pointing at the flowers, the animals and the people passing by.

"You know, I really needed to catch a breath! I'm okay with hanging out with you family, but yesterday was ... intense!" Meredith had her arm under her husband's.

Derek laughed: "Yeah, it was actually too much for me as well! Especially with Kate. I love her, but I can't stand being around her for more than a day per year!"

Kathleen, the psychiatrist of the family, was really tough to have a real conversation with, because she had the tendency to diagnose you with a mental condition. Nancy, on the other hand, was still really cold with Meredith, not accepting his brother's divorce even after all those years (not that Meredith minded it at all!).

"Thank you for doing this!" Derek knew that family had never been Meredith's favorite topic, but he also knew -and loved- that, after warming up and getting to consider someone as family, she could do literally anything for them.

Meredith still felt the hole in her stomach. But if, when Kathleen had tried to point out her history of suicidal tendencies, it grew a little; it started shrinking once again, when the whole family stopped her, taking Meredith's side. The hole was still there, but surprisingly enough, she was managing to keep it under control.