It's been a long time

Chapter 58

Meredith woke up one day alone. Derek had been on call, much to his dismay and had been stuck in surgery.

She rolled out of bed and trudged downstairs craving pizza rolls at 930 in the morning , only to not have any. Meredith had a small hormonal breakdown and started crying.

She called Derek and he picked up on the third ring. "Mer?" Derek asked. "Derek." Meredith said, obviously crying. "What's wrong Mer? Are you okay?" He asked anxiously.

"We don't have any pizza rolls!" Meredith cried into the phone. Derek had to surpress a chuckle. He was in surgery, with the phone on speaker.

"I'm sorry Mer, I'm in the middle of surgery. I can get someone to take over and pick some up?" He offered. He felt bad. She was clearly hormonal.

"No, it's okay." Meredith cried. Everyone at the hospital already knew she was pregnant. The rumor mill at Seattle grace knows everything.

"Are you sure, honey? I can come home." Derek said. "I'm okay. I'll go get some. Finish your surgery." Meredith said, sniffling. "Okah. I love you." He replied. "I love you too."

Derek chuckled and looked at his scrub nurses. "Sorry about that." He said. "Don't worry, dr Shepherd. We know all about the hormones." A scrub nurse said.

•••

At home, Meredith changed into a semi decent outfit that showed off her small baby bump and went to the grocery store.

She arrived and entered the store, immediately going to the frozen aisle. Her cravings were raging today.

"M-Meredith?" A stammer-y voice said hesitantly. She turned around and froze. "Thatcher." She said coldly.

"I-how-how are you?" He asked. "I'm fine." She answered. "You- your pregnant?" Thatcher asked, noticing the small bump under her shirt.

"I, um, yes." She replied nervously. She hadn't seen thatcher in years. "Congratulations." He said genuinely. "Thanks."

There was an awkward silence before he spoke again. "Do you....is someone taking care of you and helping you?" Thatcher asked, which was his way of asking who the father was or if she even knew who it was.

"My husband is." Meredith answered. Thatchers expression went from a smile to a look of surprise. "You're married?" He asked.

"Yeah. You would know that if you actually acted like a father." Meredith said cooly. "You should've told me. How long?" He asked. "Almost two years. We've been together since we were 15." Meredith answered. "I-I'm sorry. I, Uh, should get going." Thatcher said.

Meredith marched off and grabbed her pizza rolls angrily. Thatcher pissed her off. Meredith checked out and drove home, thinking about her estranged father.

She got home and threw some pizza rolls in the microwave. It was literally only 10 in the morning, but she didn't care. The baby wanted it.

•••

Derek got home a few hours ago and smiled at his wife curled up on the couch, still eating pizza rolls. "Hi." He said as he sat down next to her and kissed her softly. "Hi." She replied.

"How was the store? Are the pizza rolls good?" Derek asked, stealing one. "Hey! Hands off." Meredith said, slapping his hand playfully. "And to answer your question, yes they are good." She said.

"How was the store?" Derek asked. "Well, I bought some pizza rolls, got some candy, oh, saw my estranged father, and checked out." Meredith said.

Derek froze. "Wait, hold up. You what?" Derek asked. "Oh, yeah. Thatcher was there, asking me questions about the baby and our wedding." Meredith replied.

"Are you okay?" He asked. "I...don't know. He would've known I was pregnant if he stayed around, he would've known we were married if he stayed around. And then he was acting like it was my fault." Meredith admitted.

"It's not your fault. He chose to not be in your life, don't let him make you feel guilty about our life." He said softly, moving to pull her into his lap and gently caressing her baby bump.

"I know I shouldn't." Meredith said.

"You shouldn't. I'm sorry I wasn't there with you." Derek said. "It's okay, Der. Your here now and that's all that matters." Meredith answered.

"I love you and our little boy so much. Next time, I promise I'll be here for craving runs, whatever time of the day it is." Derek said, kissing her softly.

•••

A Few Hours later, Meredith was snoring away on the couch. Derek didn't know how she was feeling about the run in with her father.

Derek hated thatcher with his whole heart. He walked out on her when she was only 4 years old. 4 years old and she was left with an emotionally abusive and absent mother.

Derek got up and made sure to add to their grocery list more pizza rolls, although her cravings probably would change drastically in a week.

Last week, it was takis. This week, it was pizza rolls. And Derek loved the cravings. It was a constant reminder of the little life they created.

Derek went to sit back down when their home phone rang. "Hello?" He asked. "Oh, i-is this Merediths house? Meredith Grey?" A voice asked.

"It is. Who is this?" He replied. "Uh, thatcher. Thatcher Grey. Her, um, father." Thatcher replied. "This is her husband, Dr Derek Shepherd. What do you want?" Derek asked bitterly.

"I just...I wanted to talk to my daughter." Thatcher said. "She's not your daughter. If she was your daughter you would've been there for her when she was a little girl." Derek snapped.

"She is my daughter. I just...it was too much." He stuttered. "No. She's not. It hurt her so much when you left. I was there! I saw it! I was the one who comforted her when all her friends were going to the daddy daughter dance and she thought she couldn't go because no one could take her. I was the one who suggested My dad took her. I was there the whole time, and I'll always be here with her. You are not her father. Domt try to contact my wife again." Derek said angrily before hanging up the phone.

Derek was shocked at thatchers audacity. He went back into the living room where meredith was still sleeping, and sat down next to her once again. Meredith curled up into his arms unconsciously.

Hey guys!! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and hope your all doing well. As always, if you have any suggestions for future updates feel free to drop them. Thanks for reading.