A Healing Heart

Chapter 37

"I don't feel well mommy." Ellyse looked up at Meredith as they waited to board their flight.

"You're just nervous princess, you'll be okay." Derek stroked her head as Meredith picked her up.

"Is it in your tummy? Like butterflies?" Meredith asked her.

"Mhm." Ellyse nodded, her small hand covering her mouth.

"She looks like she's about to be sick Derek."

"It's just nerves Mer, she's fine." Derek assured her as he anticipated to get onto the plane.

Meredith held Ellyse closer to her, resting her head under her chin and she swayed her gently. "Do you want some water Ells?"

She watched as Ellyse shook her head, she knew that Ellyse's sick feeling would be about the flight but she also felt that the girl was about to be physically sick. She thought to herself that she could take her to the bathroom before the gate opened and hopefully once she'd calmed down the gate would be open but as she turned to Derek to tell him where she was going the announcement came from the speaker.

"Passengers on flight 127 to Seattle please make your way to gate 7B, your flight is now boarding."

"Derek she needs to be sick, look at her. I'm going to take her quickly." Meredith panicked.

"Look at the line outside." he pointed to the line outside of the ladies bathroom, "I'll take her to the mens." he watched as her face scrunched.

"I'm sure they'll let me through. Go, get on the plane and I'll meet you on there."

He nodded as she rushed to the ladies bathroom with Ellyse who was getting paler by the seconds. The women outside could see how poorly the girl looked and as Meredith predicted, they allowed her to go in front of them. She rubbed the girls back in the cubicle as she retched from nerves, she took after Meredith once again as she was also a nervous flyer but her anxiety medication settled her. Once Ellyse would be on the plane Meredith hoped that she'd be okay and that she was only feeling like this because she had never flown before.

"Done?" Meredith asked her gently.

"I hate that mommy." she said quietly as tears spilled down her face.

"I know, me too but hopefully you'll be okay once we get on the plane." she smiled.

"I don't want to be sick ever again." Ellyse frowned as she stood up very closely to Meredith.

"I don't want you too either. Are you ready to go?"

Ellyse nodded and they went out where they washed their hands quickly before heading back over to their gate, they reached the desk where their passports and boarding passes had to be checked over once again.

"Good morning how are you today?" the woman at the desk asked politely as the took their boarding passes and passport.

"Good, we're good thanks." Meredith smiled, her smile fading as she saw the look on the woman's face when she scanned their passes.

"Is this your daughter?" she nodded towards Ellyse.

"She is yeah." Meredith replied.

"You don't have the same surname?" the woman asked sceptically.

"Uh, no. She has her fathers surname." she stopped realising that she shouldn't have to explain herself, "I'm sorry, is there a problem?"

"Do you have her birth certificate or anything to prove that you are her mother?"

"No, not on me, it's in our suitcases. W-why do you need that? I'm her mother." Meredith said with frustration evident.

"Well because she's only a child and there is no document to say who you are to her, I can't let you on the flight with her for child protective rights reasons."

"This is ridiculous! I'm her mother! I carried her for 9 months and then I gave birth to her." Her hand rubbed her face, "her father is already on the plane he can come and confirm who I am."

The woman turned to someone else who nodded their head, "who is her father so we can get him?"

"Derek Shepherd." Meredith bit back, emphasising the name Shepherd.

"Mommy why won't she let us on the aeroplane?" Ellyse asked.

"We need your daddy." was all Meredith said.

It took a couple of minutes but soon Derek was escorted from the flight, he was worried when he reached them. "What's going on? Are you okay?" he asked as he looked into Meredith's eyes.

"We're fine. She needs your passport to prove we're her parents." she nodded her head towards the woman.

"What?" he frowned.

"She doesn't believe that I'm Ellis's mother because I have another surname."

Derek turned to the woman, "You're joking right? What century do you live in?"

"I'm sorry Sir, it's just protocol." she said her eyes flickering back to the desk and to him.

He handed her his passport and said "I'm her father and Meredith is her mother."

The woman checked their passports against one another and after apologising for the inconvenience, they were all quickly allowed onto the flight, being the last passengers on.

"Hopefully we have no more problems." Derek joked as they buckled themselves in to ease the mood.

"What an idiot." Meredith muttered as she closed her eyes to prepare for take off. She held Ellyse's hand tightly as the girl watched the plane leave the ground.

"We're in the sky daddy!" Ellyse exclaimed as she looked to Derek, her nerves had calmed as Meredith had predicted.

"Yeah. Wave bye bye to New York." He said and she waved out the window.

***

6 hours later they arrived in Seattle, Ellyse had slept against Meredith who slept against Derek for most of the flight. It was weird for them being back there. At the airport they were picked up by Carolyn as their car hadn't arrived there yet and the first place Derek wanted to visit was his fathers gravestone, he hadn't been there in over two years and since then, his life had changed drastically and whilst he knew his father would know that, he wanted to go and tell him.

Meredith and Ellyse spent sometime with Carolyn and Ellis whilst he went, they knew where he was going and respected that he wanted to go alone, he would take Ellyse and Meredith but first, he wanted to be alone. Before he left the house Carolyn brought him into a hug and told him how proud his father would be of him.

"I just wish he was here and was playing with Ellyse with you and Ellis." He said sadly to his mother.

"I do too but he's here too Derek I know he is, I can feel him." She smiled.

"Do you wish things were different?"

"Of course I do. But I've found my peace and I know that if your father could be here with us, he would. He was so proud of you Derek."

"I love you mom."

"I love you too Dear. I'm so glad you're home."

"Me too." He smiled as he hugged her.

"I'll have your fathers favourite meal ready for when you get back." She told him with a smile.

"I'd like that. See you later mom." He said as he left to see his dad.