Never grow up [1/2]

31

"M-ommy, c-ome!" Ellis was yelling

"Ellie-Bell, I'll be there in a bit" Meredith sighed as she was running around the house

"N-Now!" Ellis yelled

"Ellis, stop it please" Meredith begged as tears pooled in her eyes

Meredith heard a loud noise and dropped the laundry basket she was holding and ran to Ellis' room

"What did you do?" Meredith gasped as Ellis had thrown some toys around the room

"N-No-ww!" Ellis whined

"Ellis, this has to stop. We need to talk" Meredith said sternly

Ellis looked at her mother and frowned

"Ellis, I know you miss daddy and Bailey and I know things have been different but this is hard for mommy too" Meredith tried to calmly explain

"H-Hard" Ellis muttered

"I know baby" Meredith wrapped her arms around Ellis "I know"

"Wh-en h-ome?" Ellis frowned

"Well Nana's sick so they're helping her first" Meredith explained

"Z-o?"

"ZoZo is coming soon. She's very busy working" Meredith explained

"M-Mis Zo" Ellis whimpered

"Zo will be here in 4 days" Meredith kissed Ellis' head

"N-Not w-wait!" Ellis threw a tantrum and ran out of the room

"Ellie-" Meredith yelled but Ellis was already gone

Meredith sat on her daughter's bed and broke out in sobs until she got disturbed by her phone ringing

"Derek, hi" She picked up

"Mer, we have good news! Mom's scans came back clean, she only needs one more round and then she's supposed to be in remission" Derek explained

"That's amazing. I'm so happy to hear" Meredith smiled

"I was thinking maybe you and Ellis can fly out" Derek suggested

"Derek, Zola is coming in 4 days.." Meredith sighed

"I'm sure she'll wanna come. Maybe in 2 weeks, mom won't have chemo anymore by then" Derek sounded excited

"Derek, I'm not making any promises, okay?" Meredith whispered

"Mer, I miss my wife and daughter" Derek said sternly

"And I miss my son and husband but Ellis has been a handful, she barely sleeps!" Meredith raised her voice

"Maybe because she misses me and Bailey?" Derek snapped

"I understand what you're saying, Derek! But think a little further, what will happen if I get on a plane with Ellis who barely slept?" Meredith started to lose her patience

"What do you suggest? To drive here?" Derek frowned

"No, waiting until you and Bailey come home, until we all rested and slept as human beings have to and then fly to your mom!" Meredith said and just hung up the phone

"M-Mom-my!" Ellis ran in "D-oor!"

"Someone's at the door?" Meredith asked and ran to the front door. As she opened it, she saw Alex standing there

"Hi, are you okay?" He walked in and frowned

"It's okay" She sighed

"Hi Ellis! How are you?" Alex asked

"C-Come!" Ellis pulled his hand

"Wait a minute, Ellis. I just need to ask your mom something first" Alex said

"N-No!" Ellis started yelling

"Please go ahead if it's not important. I need to get her in bed, she's exhausted" Meredith's voice cracked

...

5 days later, Zola had arrived at her parents' house

"Mom, is it okay if I go out with some friends tonight?" Zola asked

"ZoZo, you don't have to ask for permission" Meredith giggled

"But with Ellie.." Zola said, remembering Ellis' tantrum from the day before

"I got her, we'll be fine" Meredith kissed Zola's forehead "You should go have fun"

"Call me if there's anything I can do" Zola said and grabbed some vegetables to cut

"I will, don't worry about us" Meredith looked around and had no clue what she could do to help Zola with this homemade meal

"Mom, I got this" Zola laughed as she tried to keep her mom away from the stove

"Zo!!" Ellis ran in "P-lay! Zo, p-lay!" She yelled

"We're gonna play after dinner, I'm helping mommy to make dinner, do you wanna help too?" Zola asked

Ellis nodded

"Why don't we cut some vegetables together" Zola suggested and moved everything to the dining table

"B-b-bo.. n-ot fun!" Ellis yelled after a couple of minutes and ran away

"What happened?" Zola frowned

"She's tired, Zo. A lot of things have changed and she has troubles with adjusting" Meredith slowly explained

"I know mom, can I help?"

"I think she's happy you're here" Meredith fidgeted with her hands "I can take over, Zo. Why don't you go play with her?"

"Mom, it's okay. I'm finishing this up and then I'll play with her" Zola grabbed Meredith's hand

"Thank you so much ZoZo. I love you" Meredith whispered and she held her oldest daughter close

The two of them were having some small chat as Meredith's pager went off

"I thought you were on leave" Zola frowned

"I am" Meredith shared that frown until she got a call from Miranda

Zola kept making dinner and heard her mother raise her voice "Bailey, I can't come in. Derek isn't here, who's supposed to look after Ellis?"

Zola walked to her mom and spoke up "I can watch her"

Meredith quickly ended the phone call and walked over to Zola "Honey, you were gonna meet with some friends"

"And they'll be here tomorrow too. I just want to help out, besides me and Ellis need some sister time" Zola smiled

"I'm gonna explain it to Ellis, thank you so much baby" Meredith kissed Zola's cheek

"No problem mom" Zola giggled and finished making dinner

After Meredith finally was able to explain everything to Ellis, she grabbed her stuff but forgot her purse which carried on important stuff such as her ID, her charger and her meds

AN // New story up 'are you with me', go check it out!