Let It Go

51.

Meredith tossed a pair of shoes aside and reached for another, her mind racing. This was the worst idea she'd ever had. She had had plenty of bad ideas before. Too many tequila shots before a resident interview at one of the programs she had turned down had been a bad idea. Sleeping with her best friend's boyfriend in high school had been a bad idea. Dating Chuck in college had been a bad idea. But inviting Derek to a family dinner with her kind of family? That was the absolute worst idea she had ever had. Hell, it was possibly the worst idea anyone had had in the history of the world.

What had she been thinking? What had possesed her to ask Derek to join her at a family dinner? Her family was the very definition of dysfunctional. Hell, their picture accompanied the definition in the dictionary. Derek had a nice, normal, family, even if there was more of them then she could keep up with. Her family was screwed up every way but right.

And of course there was the small issue of her mother. Ellis Grey was certain to come up at dinner. Lexie or Thatcher would likely bring up the fact that Meredith had left her mother on the other coast and ignored any attempts to be reached concerning transferring her to a nursing home near Meredith. She didn't want Derek to know about her mother. At least not yet. It was bad enough that he knew her mother was the one and only Ellis Grey. Ellis didn't want people to know she was sick and that meant not telling Derek. And if Derek didn't know, he wouldn't do the whole sympathetic person thing that Meredith hated so much. Her cell phone caught her eye.

She could hear Derek's shower running down the hall. Despite her current state, she perked up at the idea of naked Derek in her house while also finding amusement in the fact that doctors tended to carry changes of clothes on them at all times, leaving Derek to have a perfectly suitable outfit for dinner hanging in the closet of his office. Derek was occupied so that meant she had time, time to call Lexie and plead her case. Hopefully, she wouldn't need a lot of time because she doubted Derek would take much longer. She quickly dialed Lexie's number. No answer. She dialed again.

"Let me guess. You're not coming. There's this patient that needs this surgery and there is just no other doctor available in the hospital that can take care of it so you just have to stay," greeted Lexie. Meredith frowned. "You're a smart ass, you know that right?" "I do. I also know my sister. So let's hear it Meredith. What's your excuse?" "I'm coming Lex," Meredith said firmly. "I just... Have a favor to ask you." "A favor?" repeated Lexie. "Let's hear it then." "I need you to not mention my mom at dinner," Meredith informed her.

"Not mention your mom? Let me guess again. Derek knows nothing about her," Lexie replied. "He knows who she is just not... what she is." "None of your friends here know, do they?" Lexie asked, a hint of gentleness in her voice now. She knew this was a soft subject for Meredith. As much as she wanted Meredith to face the situation instead of running from it, she didn't want her sister to hurt either.

"No," Meredith answered. "They think she's traveling. It was the first excuse I came up with so I just stuck with it." She listened to Lexie sigh on her end of the phone call. "Fine Mer. I won't say anything. But I can't vouch for dad and mom or even Molly..." Meredith bit her lip.

"Ask them not to?" she asked her sister. She heard Lexie sigh again. "Mer...," she groaned. "Lexie, please." "Fine. I'll see what I can do. But I make no promises." "Thank you," Meredith told her sister. She felt herself relax just a little. She was still nervous about Derek having dinner with her family, but suddenly the worst idea in the history of the world. It was now just a bad idea, one she could hopefully work with.

"We'll see you guys in about an hour?" Lexie asked. "Yeah. We'll be there," Meredith answered. "Don't be so nervous Mer. We just want to see you," Lexie said in a reassuring voice. Meredith grunted in response. She knew better. They would bring something up and she would have to talk her way around it. As long as that something was her mother, she thought she could handle it. She had, after all, told Derek most of the story behind her kind of family. She ended her phone call with Lexie and went back to getting dressed, silently damning the fact that she had more shoes then one woman could ever need.