Love is a game

10

Halfway through the night Meredith woke up. She saw Ellis was still asleep on her part of the bed so she tried to be as quiet as possible to not disturb her daughter's sleep

Meredith was breathing heavily when she felt Poppy's paw touching her own hand

"Go get Alex" Meredith whispered and watched as the dog walked out of the door only to return a couple of minutes later with Alex behind her

"Mer, what's up?" Alex quietly asked

"Pain. So much pain" Meredith's eyes filled with tears. She couldn't move

"Okay, okay, I'll go grab you something to lighten the pain" Alex walked back out of the room and returned a bit later with morphine pills "I guess this will be your best shot" He helped her swallow them and brushed his fingers through her hair as he waited for the meds to start working

"What's going on?" They heard Derek say, causing Ellis to start squirming

"Shh baby girl, just sleep" Meredith whispered

"No worries. We fixed it" Alex told Derek and watched as Meredith was falling back asleep

"Is she okay?" Derek asked as they left the room again "I can take Ellis with me for the night" Derek suggested

"She's okay. Don't take Ellis away, she needs her daughter these days" Alex said as he grabbed a glass of water for himself to drink

"Thanks Alex, for being here for her" Derek quietly said

"Someone has to do it, no?" Alex scoffed

"Alex-" Derek tried to stop him

"No! I really don't understand how you got the audacity to leave her!" Alex crossed his arms and looked into Derek's eyes

"Alex, so many things had happened back then. All those miscarriages, planning when we'd have sex. Then she started calling in sick and I just couldn't stay in Seattle" Derek replied

"Did you ever think about Mer? She went through the same thing! She was the one left behind, pregnant!" Alex raised his voice

"I know! But-"

"No! You left her behind and kissed your co-worker!" Alex shook his head "You were married, again!"

"I know" Derek nodded. "I hated myself so much. I should have stopped that woman" He whispered

"Meredith always defended you! Never did she say a bad word about you, not even when everyone at the hospital said she should have divorced you right away"

"I wish I could turn back time. Really" Derek rested his head in his hands

"I should go to bed, tomorrow will be a tough day" Alex put his glass on the counter

"I can help out with Mer and Ellis tomorrow" Derek quickly suggested

"I have to ask Mer and see if she wants that" Alex said sternly "Addison is coming over with Mark as well, I'm not deciding for them"

"I understand that" Derek nodded "Alex-"

Alex turned around as he started walking outside but giving Derek one more shot

"I never meant to hurt her" Derek quietly said "I didn't want things to turn out like this. I love her, Alex and that will never stop" Derek ended and walked towards the couch

...

The next morning Alex was giving Meredith a sponge bath. Her incision hadn't healed yet so she wasn't cleared to take a shower

"Derek and I had a chat yesterday" Alex carefully started

"You didn't insult him, right?" Meredith looked sternly at Alex

"I just asked him the question that I've been asking myself for years and years" Alex replied

"Is Ellis with him?" Meredith quietly asked

"She and Derek are letting Poppy out. I thought Ellis said something about getting her a puppy cup" Alex chuckled

"When will Addie be here?" Meredith asked

"In a few hours. Derek will go get them at the airport" Alex finished her sponge bath "Mark will take a look at your scar although it looks good to me"

"I bet Mark will say he'd have done a better job" Meredith chuckled

"That for sure" Alex chuckled. "Okay Mer, let's get you dressed into some comfy sweats. Ellis asked me to pick your lavender ones, she's wearing hers"

"Matchy outfits" Meredith chuckled

"Addison's coming" Alex laughed

...

"A few hours later Meredith was laying in bed. Addison and Mark would arrive any minute but Meredith was exhausted

She could hear her daughter play in the room next door and imagined joining her until she fell asleep

"Aunt Addie! Uncle Mark!" Ellis smiled as she saw a car pulling up on the porch

"I think you're very right!" Alex smiled "Let's go say hi" He opened the front door

"Aunt Addie! Uncle Mark!" She ran outside to hug them

"Hey honey. How are you?" Addison lifted the small girl in her arms

"I'm good" Ellis giggled

"Shall we go in? I wanna hear everything that has happened since we last saw each other" Addison carried the girl inside as Mark grabbed their suitcases

"We have to be quiet. Mommy's sleeping" The little girl said as Addison walked towards the couch

"How's she feeling?" Addison asked the little girl

"Me and uncle Alex have been treating mommy like a real queen" Ellis giggled "And we're wearing matching outfits"

"Oh really?" Addison laughed

Derek and Mark entered the house with a ton of suitcases Addison had brought

"Some things will never change" Derek chuckled

"That's true" Addison looked at Derek and rolled her eyes, hating how he had treated Meredith in the past

"Uncle Alex, can aunt Addie and I wake up mommy?" Ellis asked

"Of course sweetie. Yell if mommy wants to get up" Alex said and watched as Ellis grabbed Addison's hand and led her into Meredith's bedroom

"Oh Mer" Addison gasped as she saw Meredith laying down in the bed, dark bags underneath her eyes

Hi guys! Just a quick update before I'm going out for dinner with my best friend. I'm physically a bit struggling with my health the past two weeks so I'm gonna lay in bed tomorrow and probably write a lot to pass the time