Is Forever Enough?

Chapter 43

Watching as her husband approached with a bubbly, fair skinned, 4 year old on his hip, Meredith grinned and got out of the car. As if on cue, Derek put his daughter down and she nearly fell over from the excitement of racing towards her mother.
Meredith couldn't kneel down, but she bent over as much as she could so the girl could launch herself into her arms.

She knew Derek would be shooting her disapproving looks, but she didn't care. She had missed her daughter. She hadn't spent many nights away from Ava. Derek had taken her to New York and there were few on call nights when Derek was actually home...but that was rare.

Becoming a mother had changed her entire outlook on life...and suddenly work had taken a back burner to being a good mother. It's what made her different than her own mother.

Instead of holding her with all her weight, she leaned against the car, watching as Derek's frown turned into a half smile before he got in the driver side allowing the girls to have their moment.

Meredith took in her appearance, feeling like she hadn't seen her in forever. Her hair was braided, with silky purple ribbons in between thanks to Addison no doubt. Ava glowed, with a simple childlike happiness that made Meredith glad she had
made the right decision in letting her go to the concert. Ava had been through so much, and Meredith was grateful it hadn't had any adverse affects on her daughter.

"I missed you Ava." Ava's hands went up around her neck tracing her fingers against the curly tendrils of Meredith's hair. Meredith inhaled the scent of her daughter as Ava snuggled closer, burying her head in her shoulder. It was an awkward position, with her growing belly.

She knew the day would come sooner than she liked where she would no longer be able to hold Ava at all, so she tried to take in all the moments she could.

"I saw Hannah mommy."

"I know you did, did you have fun?"

"I had the bestest time in the whole world."

"The whole world?" Meredith exclaimed, letting the girl slide down her and onto the ground so she could inspect her outfit. The brand new Hannah Montana concert tour t-shirt was 4 sizes too big and was tied in a small knot at her side.

"Did Lexie get you this shirt?"

"Yes! and Laura got one too so we look the same. Lexie says my babies might look the same too...now we can all be same!"
Meredith smiled, at her daughter's ramble. She couldn't help the trait she had passed on, and at Ava's age, it was too cute to ignore.

"Hey ladies, I hate to break this up, but...some of us have jobs to get to" Derek called to them after he stepped out of the car to jokingly scold them.

"Daddy's silly." Whispered Ava and Meredith barely had time to agree before Derek had approached and launched the girl into his arms.

"I'm really glad I was missed, that feels good. Really." Ava hadn't given him a second glance when he had walked into Addison's
living room to find her watching TV.

"Aww...poor baby. Now you know how I've felt her entire life." Joked Meredith.

"It's not my fault she loves her daddy. Don't you Ava?"

Ava looked to her mother who was shaking her head no behind Derek's back. With a grin she responded, "Nooo." And he would have believed her, had
Meredith's infectious giggle not broken through.

"Mommy's in trouble Ava. After all the nice things I did for her, she's being mean...what should we do about that."

"Time out." She replied, and squirmed to get down.