Love is a game

25

"Dad!" Ellis yelled as she spotted her dad as he came over to come get her at school

"Hey sweetie" Derek opened his arms and his 10 year old daughter ran into his arms "How was school?"

"It was okay. Can we go home now?" The girl sighed "I wanna enjoy the weekend"

"Of course, honey. Get in and we're going home" He smiled and helped Ellis into the car

"How's mom doing?" Ellis quietly asked after minutes of silence as she didn't want to ask yet

"She's been doing a lot better, honey" Derek forced a smile "Her and Poppy are cuddled up together for when we get home" Derek smiled

"Oh- Do we have ice cream at home? Mom would love some strawberry ice cream!" Ellis spoke up

"I bought some yesterday, I knew you and mom would like some" Derek chuckled and drove home

"Mommy! We're home!" Ellis ran inside the house towards her mother's bedroom ""Hi Pops" Ellis giggled

"Hi sweetie" Meredith smiled as she watched Ellis jump on the bed next to her

"Hi mom" Ellis breathed and wrapped her arms around her mother, feeling Meredith force her arms to move as well "Love you" The girl muttered

"Love you too, Ellie Bell" Meredith smiled and Derek then walked in with two bowls of ice cream and a bowl with a snack for Poppy that he placed on the ground

He took a seat next to Meredith and handed one bowl to Ellis, the other one he scooped up some ice cream and put it into Meredith's mouth. Meredith could eat by herself with cutlery adapted to her needs but she was tired and had had a long day so he just wanted to help her out

After the spine infection she was stable until after one year the infection returned and made her quadriplegic with barely any hand movement. She could weakly use her palms and the rest of her arms worked okay but she had no feeling in her fingers, they were always cramped into a fist but at least she was able to sit up and do things for herself when her body was cooperating

"Hmm.. I love strawberry ice cream" Meredith smiled

"Strawberry ice cream is the best" Ellis commented as she turned on one of her and her mom's favourite movies, Grease

"Levi called earlier. He and Helm are doing surgery on my patient tomorrow" Meredith told him. She still was active as a doctor to help make diagnoses and lead several trials. She stopped talking as Derek offered her another spoon of ice cream but continued telling her story in between eating

"I'm excited to see if they'll finally be able to get rid of her pain" Meredith sighed, she knew how much pain could decide during daily life. She was grateful for having Poppy even if the dog wasn't actually her assistant dog anymore due to Poppy's age but she was still part of the family and still helped Meredith with daily tasks but she also had Derek and Ellis

She never dared to think she and Derek would get this close anymore and during the first year she was scared when he came home late, scared he would be cheating on her but she finally dared to let go. They told Ellis about their stillborn daughter, they told the girl of how they met each other and all kind of stories

"Mommy?" Meredith was pulled out of her thoughts when her daughter spoke up

"Yes honey?" Meredith turned her head slowly

"Can we go to Disney on ice?" Ellis asked with a smile

"Der? What do you think?"

"I said she had to ask you" Derek smiled and pulled Meredith closer in his arms once the ice cream was finished

"Please mommy?" Ellis jumped up and down

"Okay" Meredith giggled

"Yaay!" Ellis yelled "Poppy, did you hear?" Ellis gasped

"Honey, Why don't you take Pops outside to play? Mom and I will come as well, we're gonna bring some lemonade to refresh since it's been so hot outside" Derek said and Ellis nodded. The girl took Poppy outside

"What are you planning on?" Meredith smirked, knowing he had done this with a reason

"Can't I kiss my wife for a minute?" He smirked as well and walked over to his wife, kissing her passionately. His hand brushing over her cheek as she leaned into his touch

"You can. Even for more than a minute" She giggled

"Mommy! Daddy!" They heard Ellis yelling from outside

"She's impatient" Meredith laughed

"Guess who she got that from" Derek chuckled and lifted Meredith into her wheelchair

"Hey!" Meredith giggled and faked to be offended

"You can't say I'm wrong" He laughed and started pushing her chair outside

"Look!" Ellis laughed as she let Poppy perform a high five with her

"Wow!" Derek smiled

"You two are such a great team" Meredith smiled

"But Mommy, we're all a good team!!" Ellis smiled and ran over to her parents to hug them

"We love you so so much, Ellie Bell" Meredith whispered, a tear escaping her eye as she realised the past years how many people she could count on

"We love you too, mommy" Ellis kissed her mother's cheek and spotted the tear and gently wiped it away

"So so much" Derek confirmed

"Thanks" Meredith breathed

"Uncle Alex, Auntie Jo and Luna are coming over tonight. We're going to do a barbeque. Maybe we should invite Amy and Kai as well?" Derek suggested

"Maybe you can ask Richard, Bailey, Ben, Maggy and Winston as well" Meredith smiled, remembering all the people that helped her through her hard times

"Is Addie coming?" Derek asked

"Yeah and she's taking Jake and Rosie as well" Meredith nodded

"Let's get some things ready then" Derek smiled

"Come on Poppy, we can play!" Ellis giggled 

- The End -

It's over! I hope you guys enjoyed this story and let me know if you have ideas for further stories! <3 thanks everyone for reading