Family life

Breaking point

Ellis was living in their house.

It had been a few days since she had moved in and claimed the spare room as her own. Derek still wasn't happy about this agreement but for now he was biting his tongue and getting on with it.

"Hey Mer, I'm about to head off to work." He watched as she placed a plate of food down in front of Ellis. Their kids currently digging into their breakfast.

"Alright." She continued on with everything, currently wiping Willows face clean, which was covered in fruit.

"Bye dada!" Oscar waved his little hand and smiled widely at Derek.

"Well see you later then." Derek rolled his eyes and left the room. He couldn't help but smile at Oscar, at least someone cared that he was going.

Since Ellis had moved in, they had been on rough grounds. Derek was still on edge about this whole thing, only speaking to Ellis when absolutely necessary. Which then caused tension between him and Meredith.

Derek finally arrived to walk, walked straight in, not even stopping to say hello to anyone. He wasn't in the mood, he just wanted to get in and do his surgeries and then go home.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Meredith was clearing away the breakfast.

"Oscar you need to be careful with nanny Ellis remember?" She reminded him as he carried some of his toys over to her.

"Meredith, it's fine." She started coughing quite aggressively, clutching at her chest. Meredith went to move across the room but Ellis held up her hand to stop her. Finally, she stopped coughing and straightened up her body. "Come here Oscar."

"Ook na, this car fast!" Oscar exclaimed excitedly as he bounced on the spot as Ellis took the toy off of him. "Me love that." He pointed to the car.

"No way! Why don't you show me how fast it can go?" Ellis replied excitedly as she handed the car back to him before slowly standing to her feet. She stopped herself from swaying before following Oscar into the living room.

Meredith couldn't believe it. Whilst her Ellis hadn't been the best mother to her, she really was proving to be the best grandmother. But she knew she shouldn't get use to it. They didn't have much time left together. It was a bitter sweet moment.

"Mama!" Willow exclaimed loudly from her high chair as she banged on the tray. Meredith turned and watched as her daughter smiled at her with a toothy grin.

"I'm sorry did we forget about you." Meredith cooed as she moved to take her out of the chair. Placing Willow on her hip, she couldn't help but smile as her daughter chewed on her hand. "You look just like your daddy, yes you do." Meredith leaned down and rubbed their noses together.

Willows hair was getting darker as the days passed, her eyes bright blue just like Derek's. her children were the perfect combination of the both of them.

"Mama, na ick." Oscar exclaimed as he ran into the kitchen and grabbed Meredith's hand, pulling her into the living room.

She found Ellis wiping at her mouth, after just being sick. Moving she placed Willow down her play cot, ignoring her cries of protest.

"Oscar, can you go and play with your toys over there for me please." She watched as he nodded his head before she leaned down and kissed the top of his before guiding him over to the play corner.

Once she was happy that kids were occupied she turned her full attention to Ellis.

"What happened?" Meredith picked up a tissue and began wiping at her face.

"Meredith get off of me, I don't need you babying me." Ellis exclaimed as she waved her hands around.

"I'm just trying to help." Meredith frowned as she moved to clear everything up.

"I don't want your help." Ellis pushed herself to her feet, swaying slightly.

Meredith jumped to her feet and tried to help steady Ellis. Ellis snapped and her hand smacked Meredith straight across the cheek.

"Leave me alone Meredith!" Ellis screamed before shuffling her way up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door.

Meredith stood their in shock, her hand placed on her burning cheek as tears stung her eyes. She couldn't cry. She just couldn't. Derek was right. Once again, this was a bad idea.

"Mama." Meredith looked down when she felt Oscar tug on her trousers. "Lo cryin lots." He said as he pointed towards Willow who was currently screaming as tears stained her cheeks.

"Oh baby, come here. Mommy's sorry." Meredith couldn't stop her tears from flowing as she cuddled Willow into her arms. Pulling herself together, she wiped away her tears before turning back to Oscar. "Come on Oscar, let's go to the park."

Grabbing the pushchair, she placed both of the kids in before setting off. A walk was exactly what she needed, to clear her head. She didn't know where she was going but she just knew she couldn't be at home right now.

Not only did she have a 2 year old and a 7 month old, she now had her mother to look after and right now she felt like she had took too much on.

Meredith walked and walked, ignoring her phone as it rang. She couldn't speak to anyone right now. Luckily, the walk sent both of the kids off to sleep which Meredith was grateful for.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed before she finally walked through her front door.

"Meredith!" Derek exclaimed before Meredith quickly shh'd him, leaving the kids in the pushchair as she left it in the living room and guided Derek to the kitchen. "What the fuck happened to your cheek?"

Derek was seething with angry, already knowing the answer to his question. But he had to hear her say it. Hearing Derek's tone, Meredith turned and glanced in the closet mirror nearby, seeing the bruise already starting to form on her cheek.

"I fell." She whispered to herself, knowing he wasn't going to believe it.

"Don't you lie to me Meredith, tell me the truth." Derek exclaimed. "Don't you fucking lie to me."

"What, what do you want me to say!" At the point Meredith was beyond angry. "Do you want me to stand here and say that you right, this was a mistake! That my mom hit me when I tried to help her and yet I stand here trying to defend her! Come on tell me Derek, cause I'm really starting to lose it right now!" Meredith exclaimed as she pushed at his chest.

"So she hit you and she's still in this house, Meredith what the fuck! She needs to go, what if she hits one of the kids next time? I'm not having here. She's going." Derek's hands were waving around as they screamed at one another.

"It was an accident, she was no where to go Derek and I'm not about to put her out on the street. So she's staying!" Meredith didn't expect their night to turn out like this.

"An accident? Meredith your cheek is purple. I'm sorry but I cannot live under the same roof as that woman anymore." Derek lowered his tone as he heard some shuffling upstairs.

"Well then, you know what you need to do." Meredith stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Seriously? Fine, I'll go." Derek stormed out the room and flew up the stairs. Once he entered their room, he grabbed a bag out of the wardrobe and started filling it with his clothes. He couldn't believe this was happening.

When he was finally packed and ready to go, he headed downstairs, finding Meredith stood at the bottom.

"I'm going to my moms. Phone me if you need me or about the kids." He placed a kiss on her lips. "I love you." Then he left.

Meredith was alone. Once again she had been left alone.