Dreams On Fire

Lightweight

Following the miscarriage, Derek and Meredith were both given a week off of work by Bailey, being told to spend time with their kids. The whole week, Meredith didn't remember a moment where she put down Ellis, choosing instead to carry her everywhere even when it wasn't convenient, snuggling her sweet baby smell. She was seven months old and while she wasn't crawling yet, she was sitting up and playing, her happy baby giggle filling the house and cheering Meredith up. It was crazy, mourning something she didn't even know she had until it was gone, but her sweet baby girl filled part of that void, and in the nights, curling up close with Derek filled the other part of that void.

Returning to work was uneventful for most of the day, until Meredith was paged for a neuro consult. Heading to the room, she met up with both Amelia and Derek, raising an eyebrow.

"All three of us were paged? Really?" she asked, as they headed into the room. She had to blink a few times at the patient, her eyes wide.

"Katie?" she asked, biting down on her lip, looking up at Derek as she stood there, sandwiched between him and Amelia. Katie Bryce had been her first ever patient; she had been the person that brought her and Derek together. And she had been the biggest fucking pain in the ass.

"They still let you be a doctor here?" The now young woman asked, and Meredith inwardly groaned. Derek took the hit and stepped forward with a smile.

"Hi Katie, I'm Doctor Shepherd, I was on your case the first time along with the other Doctor Shepherd. And then the other Doctor, is also Doctor Shepherd, she's my sister."

"So wait, you're all Doctor Shepherd? Doesn't that get confusing?" Katie asked, and Amelia shrugged.

"I'm their boss, and they're married now, but we're all your doctors and we're going to figure out what's going on with you this time, Katie," Amelia said, before the three left the room. Amelia ordered an MRI and Meredith ran off to answer a General 911 page.

Later in the afternoon, Meredith was paged to MRI, where she met up with Derek and Amelia. The images were popping up on the computer screen just as she entered the room and her eyes widened.

"Shit," she said, the three of them astonished at how enormous the aneurysm was. Katie had warned them not to shave her head again but that was out the window the moment the scans popped up on the screen. "She's going to kill us, simply because we have to shave her head. I'm making my intern do it," she giggled slightly, Derek catching her by the waist and placing a kiss on her lips.

"I'm not telling her the bad news either, she's still a brat and I have my General patient to check up on," she grinned, giving Derek a kiss goodbye before she fled the Neuro wing, heading over to check up on her patient, who was pre-op.

The day finished quickly, and with a sigh she and Derek were heading home, the kids asleep in the backseat. Amelia promised she would make it home before midnight and try not to wake up the whole house this time.

Once they were home, the kids came back to life, and Meredith was grateful that Ellie was teething and wanted to be in her arms; deep down she was still mourning her loss and her clingy daughter comforted her. She simply put Ellie in the carrier, busying herself around the house with cleaning up, then making dinner for the five of them. She was exhausted from her busy day of switching between specialties, and then switching to mommy-mode. Derek helped her out like he always did, making something for the two of them to eat while she made something kid-friendly (and usually frozen and easy for her to not screw up). Once everything was ready they finally sat down as a family, Ellie in her high chair, Meredith trying to feed the two of them at the same time, but she wouldn't change anything in the world.

After dinner came baths, with Derek taking charge while Meredith did the dishes, after which she eventually wandered upstairs to the kids bathroom, standing in the doorway and smiling down at the life they had created together. Zola was in the stall shower with Bailey in the bath, a naked Ellie sitting on her monkey towel.

"Oh Ellie, daddy has his hands full, let's go get you dressed," she smiled, making faces at the baby who giggled in response, tugging on Meredith's hair. Meredith only smiled more, cherishing these moments that Elllis was still a baby as she laid her down, expertly putting her in a diaper, and putting her in a pale pink onesie. It was unseasonably warm tonight, a light breeze coming in through the window as she grabbed a soft blanket and settled into the rocker in the corner, looking down at the beautiful baby in her arms. She had been a pure surprise, but a welcome one. Her soft baby hair had turned black and she had Derek's piercing blue eyes. Gently, Meredith rocked Ellie in the chair, feeding her the bottle she had heated up downstairs until it was empty and the baby was asleep, before tucking her into her crib and flicking off the light, heading down the hall.

Zola and Bailey were out of the shower, and Meredith guided her big six year old daughter into her bedroom, working on brushing out her tight hair.

"Here," she said, handing her panties and a Cinderella nightgown, Zola quickly getting dressed and climbing into bed, Meredith sitting beside her.

"Do you have a new favorite book to read to me, Zo?" she said with a smile. Zola had just started first grade and loved to show off to everyone in the hospital that she could read.

"Yes! I want to read Goodnight Moon." Meredith laughed and kissed her cheek.

"Zo, that's one of Ellie's books," she teased, as she winkled her nose and hugged her close.

"Yeah but it's easy and I like reading it before bed," she said, reaching for the book and started to read it. Meredith laid her head down next to Zola's, listening to her voice read the book. By the end of the story, both Shepherd girls were asleep.

It was awhile before Derek came looking for Meredith; he had tucked Bailey into his racecar bed and read him at least ten stories before he fell asleep. Watching his wife curled up with one of his daughters made him smile, and he snapped a photo before scooping her up in his arms.

"What're you doing?" she mumbled, her arms going around his neck as he carried her downstairs to their bedroom and gently shut the door. The baby monitor was on but he ignored it, laying her down on the bed. She slowly woke up in the dim light, hearing the bathtub running and she sat up, rubbing at her eyes and following the light into the bathroom, a smile slowly spreading across her face. Derek was leaning against the sink, looking at his phone, but he looked up when he noticed her in the doorway. The tub was running and it was already full of bubbles, candles were lit on every surface of the bathroom, and the scent of lavender filled the air.

"I know life threw us a curveball lately, and I know it's not either of our faults that it happened, but come on. Get naked and get in the bath," he smirked, taking off his shirt. Meredith laughed, unbuttoning her jeans and letting them fall to the floor. Her bra and panties were next and then she was slipping into the bathtub, the one she had requested be made so big that both her knees and boobs were covered when she was in it.

"Well Dr. Shepherd, aren't you going to join me?" she smirked, her body disappearing in bubbles and water. Derek didn't have to be asked twice, the rest of his clothes were off and he was sinking into the water behind Meredith, her head laying to rest on his shoulder. This was exactly what she needed, his hands running up and down her body, her eyes closed. They couldn't have sex for at least a month, but just being together was enough for her right now.

"I love you so much," she murmured, the lavender relaxing her more than her shampoo and conditioner usually did, as he moved his fingers to her hair, massaging it and letting his fingers run through it.

They stayed in the bath for ages, until the water started to cool, and by then Meredith was drowsy. Drying off and pulling on shorts and a tank top, she fell into bed, Derek's arms encircling her waist as she drifted off to sleep.