It's been a long time

Chapter 59

A few days later, Meredith and Derek were both at work together. Derek was still kind of pissed off at thatcher for having the audacity to talk to his wife that way, but Meredith was okay and if she was okay with it, he'd be too.

Thatcher Grey was mad. Mad at his daughter for not telling him anything about her life. It wasn't exaclty her fault as he had left her, but she should've let him prepare for being a grandpa again.

Thatcher had missed so much in his little girls life. His firstborn. His daughter. All he knew about her now was that she was married, pregnant, and a doctor.

But he wanted to know her. Or at the very least his grandchild. So, he decided to go to the hospital in Seattle and talk to her himself.

Thatcher drove to Seattle Grace and got out of the car, standing at the front of the hospital in which he used to know when his wife worked there.

He marched in and went to the nurses station. "Hi sir, what can I do for you today?" A sweet nurse asked. "Hi, I'm looking for a Meredith Grey. Does she work here?" Thatcher asked.

"She does. Do you want me to page her?" The nurse offered. "No, that's okay. I'll find her. Thank you." He replied.

Thatcher wandered across the hospital, keeping an eye out for the petite blonde when he bumped right into someone. "Oh, sorry." Thatcher said. The man turned around and immediately got a look of anger.

"Thatcher." Derek said Cooly. Thatcher frowned. "Do I know you?" He asked. "Derek Shepherd. Merediths husband. We spoke on the phone the other day." He said.

"Your the husband." Thatcher said in realization. "Yes." Derek replied. "I was just- I wanted to see Meredith. Do you know where she is?" He asked.

"No. You aren't seeing her." Derek said. "What? Why? She's my daughter. She's having my grandchild." Thatcher argued.

"She is not your daughter as I told you on the phone the other day. Meredith doesn't want to see you. She's pregnant and the last thing she needs is you bothering her." Derek snapped.

"I am her father." Thatcher said, raising his voice. "No you aren't." He replied sharply. Thatcher had enough. Meredith was his daughter.

He drew his fist back and in a flash his fist collided with dereks face. Derek staggered back and saw red. He lunged at the older man and grabbed him by the collar. "Meredith doesn't want to speak with you. So leave." He said, trying to keep calm though his face was throbbing.

Meredith was walking to her surgery when she saw her husband pinning her father up against a wall. "Stop." She yelled, pulling Derek off of him. "Meredith!" Thatcher said.

"Are you okay?" Meredith asked in concern, ignoring thatcher. "I'm fine." Derek replied, seeing the concern In her eyes. "Really, I'm fine."

"What the hell do you want?" Meredith asked angry and annoyed. "I want to talk to you." He replied. "If I talk to you, will you stop bothering me?" She asked.

Thatcher frowned. "Just let me talk to you, please." He begged. "Fine. But dereks coming too." Meredith replied. "Really?" Thatcher asked. "Do you want me to talk to you or not?" Meredith asked.

•••

Soon after; the three of them sat down in a conference room. "So? What do you want?" Meredith asked. "I-I'm your father. Your my daughter. Your married. Pregnant. A doctor" thatcher said.

"Yes." Meredith agreed. "You should've told me." He said. "I would've told you maybe if I knew where you lived or if I had your contact information. But if I do remember correctly, you left with no trace." Meredith said snarkily.

"I'm sorry. About that." He said. "Is there a point in this? I have work to do." Meredith said annoyed. Derek grabbed her hand and squeezed assuringly.

"I have some questions. How far along are you?" Thatcher asked. "13 weeks." Meredith answered. "Do you know the gender?"

"It's a boy." Derek stepped in. "How long have you two been married?" He asked. "A few years. Look, what's with all the questions? Because seriously, we have work to do." Meredith said.

"I just want to make sure about things. Can we talk sometime else? Privately? I just...we haven't talked." Thatcher asked. "We'll see. Give your number to Derek, I have a surgery to get to." Meredith said as she left and walked away leaving the two men.

"I'm sorry I punched you." Thatcher mumbled. "Yeah." Derek breathed. "It's just....she's all grown up." Thatcher said. "She is."

"I regret leaving. I always will. But Ellis...Derek, you have to understand I couldn't stay with her. She was....not meant to be a wife or mother. And if I left it meant leaving Meredith. I couldn't leave Ellis alone, even if I despised her I still loved her." Thatcher explained.

"You shouldn't have left her completely and not speak to her until 20 years later. I'm going to be a father and I will never be like you. I don't know how you could leave your wife and daughter like that." Derek admitted.

"It's horrible. I know. But I want to know my daughter. And maybe my grandson." Thatcher replied. "We'll see." He answered. "She's happy, right? Healthy?" Thatcher asked softly.

"She is." Derek said as his pager went off. Derek stood up to leave and went to the door. "Derek?" Thatcher asked. "Thank you for making her happy." He said. Derek gave a small nod and left the room.

Hey guys! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter aand hope your all doing well. If you have any suggestions for future updates pleasem feel free to drop them. Sorry for the lack of updates recently, I've been very busy.