In my bones

Chapter 16

By sunset543

Enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Grey's Anatomy. Not the characters. Not the plot. Not anything. Nor do I own anything to do with the NHL. At all. But it would be pretty cool if I did.

She had chickened out the night before, so it was now or never. Ellis was coming tomorrow, and neither Derek or Aiden knew yet. She thought she'd try Derek first. He was back early from the ice rink so she could talk without Aiden interrupting them.

"Can I talk to you?" she asked, playing with her wristwatch.

"Shoot," he said, sitting down at the kitchen counter.

"My mother is coming. Tomorrow. And she's staying here, she only told me yesterday and I chickened out so I'm telling you now, and she wants to meet you, and see Aiden, who she hasn't seen for years, he doesn't even know who she is. And now you're going to be subjected to her interrogation and she's going to tell you you're not good enough for me or that I don't need a man and all of that shit. She'll drive you away from me. Just, promise me you won't leave," she rambled.

"Did you breathe at all during that?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Shut up," she smacked him lightly. "I mean it Derek, she won't like you, she doesn't like anyone. She thinks she knows what's best for me. But she hasn't since I was 5 and took me away from my dad."

"Hey," he muttered, standing up from his seat and putting his arms around her.

"I can take the interrogation. I had to meet her at some point. And I swear to you, she will not drive me away. No one could do that, I love you too much, I love Aiden too much. If anything, it'll make me closer, because I know that her opinion will wither be wrong or completely disregarded. Because like you just told me, she doesn't know what's best for you and she hasn't seen you in years. I'll still be here." He finished by kissing her forehead lightly.

"Thank you," she mumbled into his chest.

"Not a problem. I'm here whenever you need it, you know that" he murmured into her hair. She fell into his embrace and hoped that he would still believe that after he met her.

xxxxx

After they had brought Aiden home and were settled at the dining table a few hours later, Meredith decided to tell him.

"Sweetie."

"Yeah Mom?"

"You know how Derek's parents are your grandma and grandpa?"

"Yeah," he replied, mouth full of potato.

"Well. You actually have another grandma. She's my mom. But I don't see her a lot. The last I saw her was when you were only a few months old. Which was also the last time she saw you."

"How come?" He asked, confused.

"Well, Grandma Ellis, that's her name, didn't think that I could do it by myself. And I guess she wanted me to prove her wrong."

"And you did?"

"Well, you're still here aren't you," she smiled, though it faltered slightly. It hurt that her own mother didn't believe in her or have the common decency to help her through the sleepless nights. Her friends had done that. She felt Derek sneak his hand into hers and squeeze. Squeezing it back tightly, she started again.

"The thing is, Grandma Ellis is a busy person, so she doesn't have a lot of free time. She's only here for a few days anyway."

"When is she coming?"