As it was (4/4)

5

Meredith woke up, her wrist was throbbing and she felt the brace tight around her arm

"Morning" Derek smiled

"Hi" She breathed

"I gave you your morning feed already, I hope you don't mind? I just didn't wanna wake you" Derek kissed her lips and she cuddled closer into his body as she felt like she was freezing

"Of course I don't mind" Meredith muttered

"We should talk to the girls about what happened. This isn't okay" Derek rubbed her upper arm

"She didn't mean it" Meredith looked into his eyes

"Mer, I agree she didn't mean to but this isn't okay. Imagine what could have gone wrong" He frowned

"Hmm" She groaned into his arms, not wanting to think about it

"Mom? Dad?" They heard Emma's voice on the other side of the door

"Come in, honey" Derek yelled

"Can I lay with you for a bit?" Emma quietly asked, looking at the ground

"Of course" Meredith smiled and reached her arm out, the girl climbing in next to her mother "Are you okay, Em?"

"Yeah" The girl replied but neither Meredith nor Derek believed her. The girl was highly sensitive and had issues expressing her feelings sometimes

"We can talk later today" Meredith quietly whispered into Emma's ear so Derek wouldn't hear

...

Meredith was resting on the couch, hooked up to her mid-morning feeding. Emma sitting next to her as she was scrolling on her phone

"Are you okay honey?" Meredith grabbed Emma's hand

"Yeah" She quietly said as they heard Ava walking inside

"Hi Ave" Meredith turned her head and smiled towards her oldest daughter but she just gave her a small nod, she walked into the kitchen to return a few minutes later and walked straight back to her room "Ava?" Meredith called out again but the girl ignored her

"What was that about?" Derek frowned as he walked into the room

"I need to talk to Ava" Meredith said and stopped her feeding

"What?" Derek frowned and stopped her from unhooking herself

"Stop!" Meredith snapped, causing Emma to flinch "I'm sorry, honey" Meredith felt bad but she needed to get to her oldest daughter "Just... let me go, please" She looked into her husband's eyes

Derek helped her up to make sure she wouldn't use her injured wrist

"Thank you," Meredith placed a soft kiss on Derek's lips and made her way over to Ava's room "Ava, please open the door" Meredith tried. She felt Derek's eyes glued on her and tried again

After a bit she heard Ava's footsteps coming closer to the door

"Only you" She said from the other side

"Of course. Can you open the door for me, please?" Meredith asked and Ava opened the door, she didn't look up to her mother as shame from the previous day took over

"Sorry" Ava whispered and Meredith led her towards the bed where they both sat down

"I know you didn't mean to" Meredith hugged Ava tight to her chest

"I- We-" Ava tried but couldn't get out the words she needed

"What caused you to explode like that?" Meredith quietly asked

"No" Ava shook her head

"What's wrong?" Meredith asked with a frown

"I can't tell you" Ava whimpered in her mother's arms

"Why not?" Meredith frowned

"I don't wanna hurt you" Ava whispered

"Go on, you can tell me" Meredith assured Ava

"It's just- Sometimes it's all a bit too much. And I don't always wanna come to you or dad, you're both busy-" Ava started "And it's not always that easy. Sometimes you're asleep and dad doesn't want us to wake you up.." Ava ranted

"You can always wake me up, Ave. I'm yours and Emma's mom. I'll always be here for the two of you" Meredith held Ava's hand

"What if you get sick again?" Ava quietly asked

"For now all my scans look good. I haven't had it in years, honey. No need to worry" Meredith held Ava close to her chest

"But what if it does?" Ava asked again

"Then we'll deal with it" Meredith promised "Besides, treatments for cancer have developed a lot in the past years" Meredith kissed Ava's head

...

A few hours later they were all comfortable on the couch while enjoying a much needed family moment. Derek was curled up with his girls and it was all he needed for now. Having his girls close to him where he could keep them safe

"Dad, can we make some snacks?" Emma asked her dad

"Of course. What do you two want?" He sat up slowly

"Can we have popcorn?" Ava asked with a smile

"Of course" He smiled and walked off to the kitchen

"Can I help?" Ava asked and stood up as well when Derek reached out for her hand

"How's your wrist?" Emma asked her mother

"It's okay" Meredith lied. She didn't wanna worry her daughters. As a doctor she knew her past chemo treatments ruined a lot of things in her body such as bone stability

"Should I go help dad and Ava?" Emma then asked

"If you want to" Meredith smiled back and saw her daughter running to the kitchen so she took the time to close her eyes a bit as she was completely exhausted

It wasn't until Derek and the kids returned about ten minutes later that anyone had noticed Meredith had fallen asleep. Derek had to chuckle and had climbed in behind her so he could hold her in his arms, making sure to elevate her wrist with a pillow to reduce the little bit of swelling that was still left

"This is the best popcorn EVER!" Ava smiled

"Do you like it as well, Em?" Derek asked his youngest daughter that seemed to be lost in thoughts as she flinched by hearing her name

"What?" She looked up

"I asked if you like the popcorn" Derek chuckled

"Yeah. Thanks dad" Emma nodded her head and then decided to lay down a bit. He rested her head against her mom's and watched the movie they had turned on

I have a couple of rough weeks ahead. I also have to teach in a few hours but here's an update. I hope you like it