When I am sad and broken down...

The One where Nick moves in

TW: sexual assault.
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The doorbell rings, snapping Meredith out of the best sleep she's had in weeks. Therapy is exhausting but it does have its perks, the ability of sleeping through the night without nightmares of her mother being one of them and she was going to get that if some stupid stupid person hadn't decided to come to her house in the middle of the night.

"Mom, who is it?" a sleepy Zola asks, coming out of her room into the corridor.

"I don't know, Zozo, but I'll take care of it, you go back to sleep."

"I'm going to check on Ellis first."

Meredith smiles at her through the dark and nods, then heads down the stairs. Before opening the door she looks into the peephole.

"What!?" she exclaims, bringing her hand to cover her mouth.

She slowly opens the door to reveal a blonde girl in her twenties. The last time Meredith saw her her green eyes were sparkling with excitement and a sense of adventure that is now completely gone, replaced only by emptiness. She's way skinnier than last time and her hair is thinner and messier. Meredith tries to meet her eyes but the girl seems to be unable to focus.

"I... I thought my... I thought that..."

"Your uncle is not here, Charlotte" Meredith says, understanding what her muttering meant. "But you can come in and I will call him for you."

"NO!" Nick's niece suddenly shouts, but she still lets Meredith lead her inside.

"Okay okay, I won't call him for now, Charlotte, is that okay?" she asks, sitting her on the sofa.

No answer.

The girl rests her head on the back of the sofa as tears start wearing her cheeks.

"I'm going to get you a glass of water" Meredith tells her, wanting to give her some space.

When she gets back to the living room she finds Charlotte even more restless and worked up than she was before. Meredith closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, knowing it's going to be a very long night.

"Mama" Ellis whines coming down the stairs and rubbing her eyes with her little fists. "I heard noise, mama"

Zola and Bailey follow their sister, all of them still groggy from being woken up in the middle of the night.

"Who's this?" Bailey asks, pointing to the miserable girl on the sofa. The three kids get closer, curious to see the intruder. That must make Charlotte uncomfortable because she starts shaking and she hides her face in her palms.

"Okay okay"

Meredith stands up, now fully awake and aware that not three but four kids need her right now.

"You kids go back to your rooms now. Charlotte and I are going to keep it as quiet as possible, alright?"

Zola and Bailey nod and start going back downstairs, not without whispering to each other in the attempt to guess who Charlotte is. Ellis doesn't move.

"But mama, if I wake up in the middle of the night you have to cradle me back to sleep, it's the rule" she complains and she's right, it doesn't happen very often but when it does Meredith always turns it into one of her soft Ellis moments.

She would want nothing more than that right now, seeing that she's exhausted, but she can't leave Charlotte alone like this. She's still a kid. Not her kid, not a small kid like Ellis, but she's still a kid.
"Ellis, what about this? Mama is going to call Auntie Amelia and she will cradle you to sleep. In the meantime you can stay here and rest in my arms until she arrives. Would that work for you?"